Network Of Journalists Group Supports Local Police Establishment

The Network of Journalists on Indigenous Issues (NEJII) has launched a campaign proposing that the Federal Capital Territory establish a local police force composed of indigenous people in the area, whose ancestors owned the land.

The group was responding to the statement credited to the Presidency that Abuja, the Federal Capital, would not have State Police.

The President said the FCT will be under the jurisdiction of the Nigeria Police Force, which would be renamed the Federal Police Service.

But the NEJII, in a statement signed by its officials, Akinwale Kasali and Fred Ojinika, said that Abuja, though yet a state capital, should not be denied the territory of local police drawn from the Abuja Original Inhabitants (AOIs).

The NEJII said security is tied to territorial sovereignty and to physical and economic ancestry, adding that the Federal Government’s position negates the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.’

‘The idea of not having State Police in Abuja is wrong. There are about 2.5 million indigenous people in the Federal Capital Territory. There should be a State Police in Abuja, constituted by indigenous people in the FCT, NEJII said in a statement issued yesterday.

The group called on the Presidency and the National Assembly to reject any proposal that excludes indigenous people from State Policing.’

‘The Nigerian Government should learn from the police structure in Washington, London and New York. The global best practice is for State Capitals to have their own police, usually drawn largely from the original inhabitants of the capital city. In Abuja, there are about 9 indigenous ethnic groups in the FCT. They should not be denied this historic opportunity,’ NEJII said. The group said the proposed State Police should recognise the Abuja Metropolitan Police, drawn from the FCT’s indigenous inhabitants.

It argued that the Abuja Original Inhabitants form the majority of the people in the FCT. They own the land. They are spiritually, emotionally, and sociologically attached to the land. It is their ancestral home. Having been denied statehood, they cannot again be denied their status as stakeholders in the policing of Abuja”

“In fact, the Abuja Original Inhabitants are the first nation; they are the first stakeholders that should be considered in Abuja policy,” they said.

The network said it was unfortunate that Abuja’s original inhabitants are denied the right to vote for State House of Assembly members and Governors, and that now they will not be involved in State Police, a critical aspect necessary for the protection of indigenous values, culture, heritage, and forest resources.

NEJII said across the 36 states, police will be recruited mostly from indigenes of the states.’

‘With the lack of State Police in Abuja, the implication is that some 2.5million representing nine ethnic groups will be denied and marginalised from involvement in state policing. This is a conscious way to marginalise further and isolate Abuja Original Inhabitants, AOI, NEJII said.