THE umbrella body of the indigenous people of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, under the aegis of Original Inhabitants’ Development Association of Abuja (OIDA), has said it will Wednesday embark on a one-million-man protest march to the National Assembly over the rejection of the proposed mayoral government for FCT by the federal lawmakers.
The body also expressed its plans to “institute a legal case against the Federal Government to challenge the forceful usurpation of our ancestral lands through Section 297 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) without prompt payment of compensation or due process as outlined in Section 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
The OIDA said the FCT natives and other Nigerians would participate in the “mass protest at the National Assembly tomorrow (today).”
In a statement signed by President of the group, Danladi Jeji, and made available to The Guardian in Abuja yesterday, OIDA said the mass protest is against “Senate’s rejection of the proposed Mayoral Status for FCT and non-inclusion of FCT issues for debate by the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.”
Jeji said the protest was one of the decisions reached at an enlarged meeting of FCT indigenous people last Saturday, that resulted in a statement known as “Kuje Declaration”, which contains all their demands.
The indigenes added that the Nigerian federation has rendered them second-class citizens who are stateless and denied them socio-political and economic rights like other Nigerians.
“We shall also institute another legal case against the Federal Government to challenge the interpretation of Sections 299, 300, 301, 302 and 304, which have rendered us in the captivity of statelessness and second-class citizenship.”
“In light of the pervasive oppression of FCT original inhabitants in their ancestral homelands, we shall have recourse to the assertion of our universal right of self-determination in a formal petition to the United Nations General Assembly.”
“We reject the Landswap policy of the current FCT minister. Until the 1978 compensation value and figure of N2.8 billion is paid with 37 years’ interest, the FCT minister and his officials cannot have access to our lands. No amount of intimidation, division of our people or use of divide and rule tactics will make us give up our lands. Hence, all FCT indigenes are hereby directed to stop further negotiations on resettlement or compensation with FCT or FCDA officials until the said compensation due and payable is fully settled. Ditto the Centenary City project.
“We note sadly that Section 297 of the 1999 Constitution, which vests all lands in the FCT on the Federal Government of Nigeria, is a satanic clause as there has never been prompt compensation or acquisition of our indigenous and customary land by the Federal Government. Hence, until the 1978 compensation value and figure of N2.8 billion with 37 years’ interest is paid, the Nigerian government cannot claim ownership of the present lands in the FCT. Thus, on our ancestral lands we stand!
“On the issue of indigeneship, we categorically affirm that only original inhabitants can claim ownership of being the natives of FCT. Therefore, all those buying indigeneship certificates to claim that they are original inhabitants of FCT are fake. All federal agencies should take note, especially for the purpose of employment opportunities. We are also warning the six area councils to desist from offering indigene letters to non-FCT original inhabitants”.
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