Natives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have condemned the description of Abuja as a ‘No Man’s Land’, insisting that the indigenes of Abuja have not bequeathed the ownership of their ancestral land to anyone.
The natives also said that the fact that the Federal Capital Territory was moved from Lagos to Abuja has not in any way gave their ancestral rights of the territory away, urging people describing the territory as a ‘no man’s land’ to have a rethink.
They regretted that the relocation of FCT to Abuja has led to the loss of their lands, political entitlements, and many other legitimate rights, insisting that it was time Abuja was accorded a state status so that natives can regain some political entitlements lost due to the current status of FCT.
The executive director of Abuja Original Inhabitants Youths Empowerment Organization (AOIYEO), Commandant Isaac David, while speaking during the natives’ first quarter townhall meeting in Kuje Area Council, said in the second quarter of the year, an FCT stakeholders Assembly will be launched.
David lamented that the massive land belonging to the natives has been confiscated by federal authorities and sold to buyers who now built malls and plazas on it, while the natives were pushed inside the hinterland.
“We have sat down at our level and we came up with a very good strategic platform that will give the window and the room to our stakeholders in the FCT to speak on why the government has the power to choose either to work with the indigenous people of FCT or not.
“FCT Stakeholders Assembly will nominate a credible stakeholder that you feel is powerful and credible and doable to assume that office as a chairman of FCT Stakeholders Assembly where the Minister of FCT may speak or any decision taken by the administration, the government will think twice knowing there are people, there are speakers in the land.
“There are owners of the land and any decisions that will be taken by the government, this forum will serve as the breach between the natives and the government and there’s no way a stranger will have something that has to do with FCT without considering the voice of the FCT Stakeholders Assembly,” he said.
Also, the senior special assistant on Special Duties to the Minister of FCT, Hajiya Farida Suleiman, lamented the alleged unfair treatment of the FCT natives.
“We have been grossly marginalised, abused, and our human rights have been tampered with. We do not have absolute representation for our people in the National Assembly, we do not even have a State Assembly because we are not a State. This breaks my heart daily.
“It is a struggle I have been in for the last 10 years of my life. I tell you today, we are facing extinction as we are today. Some people do not even know that we have natives in the city, they believe in the ‘No man’s land’ which hurts badly
“So today we are coming together to tell Nigerians that there are real owners of FCT and these real owners are coming out to say ‘enough is enough’. We are ready to take the leadership of our ancestral land, what is due to every Nigerian should be outrightly given to us as a people.
“This is a fundamental human rights issue, nothing more. It is not political, it is not traditional, it’s a fundamental human right as citizens of this country, as Nigerians and as human beings living in the globe,” she stated.
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