Supreme Court Ends 20-Year Legal Battle For 96 Teachers Unlawfully Redeployed By Benue Over ‘Non-Indigene’ Status

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, has revealed how the Supreme Court of Nigeria finally brought an end to a nearly two-decade legal battle involving 96 teachers who were unlawfully redeployed out of Benue State over their “non-indigene” status.

Okutepa, in a post shared on X on Tuesday, described the case as an “agonising journey,” noting that the teachers were originally employed by the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board and various local government authorities before being controversially forced out in 2006.

According to him, the affected teachers, drawn from different parts of Nigeria, had dedicated years of service to schools across the state before the government “unconstitutionally decided to redeploy them to their states of origin.”

“They were teaching in various local government schools in Benue State until sometime in 2006 when the government… decided to redeploy them to their states of origin,” Okutepa said.

He explained that the decision was challenged in court on the grounds that the state government lacked the constitutional powers to transfer employees outside its jurisdiction and that the action was discriminatory.

Today the 24th day of March 2026, the Supreme Court of Nigeria finally ended the most agonizing journey of 96 Nigerians teachers who were unjustly redeployed to their states of origin by the government of Benue State in 2006. These Nigerians who were experienced teachers were…

— Jibrin Okutepa San (@sanjsokutepa) March 24, 2026

“It was discriminatory to send them away from Benue State… simply because they are not indigenes,” he stated.

Okutepa disclosed that in 2008, a High Court presided over by Justice Joseph Tine Tur ruled in favour of the teachers, declaring their redeployment unconstitutional, null, and void.

The court ordered their reinstatement and directed the government to pay all outstanding salaries and allowances from 2006 until their lawful exit from service.

Despite the judgment, and the dismissal of the state government’s appeal, the authorities allegedly refused to comply.

“The government did not obey the orders. The salaries and allowances were not paid as ordered,” Okutepa said.

He further narrated how repeated attempts to enforce the judgment failed, forcing the legal team to initiate garnishee proceedings to recover the funds.

Although a garnishee order was eventually granted and made absolute around 2021, both the government and the financial institutions involved reportedly failed to comply.

“We waited and waited to no avail. Judgments of court orders must be obeyed,” he said.

The matter took another turn in 2024 when the Benue State government filed a fresh suit seeking interpretation of the earlier judgment and garnishee orders, a move strongly opposed by the teachers’ legal team.

According to Okutepa, the legal tussle finally came to a close on March 24, 2026, when the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Benue State government, effectively upholding all previous decisions.

“At today’s proceedings, the Supreme Court gave decent burial to the case,” he said.

“The Supreme Court ended the excruciating journey of nightmare of 96 Nigerians today.”

Okutepa lamented that the teachers had not received salaries or allowances since 2005, despite multiple favourable court rulings.

“These 96 Nigerians last received salaries and allowances in 2005,” he revealed.

He added that the prolonged delay in justice reflects the broader challenges within Nigeria’s judicial and enforcement systems.

“To obtain immediate justice in Nigeria is difficult,” he noted, while commending the Supreme Court for standing firm in delivering final judgment.(SaharaReporters)