The original indigenes of Abuja have tabled a charter of demands, including a call for the demarcation of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) into three Senatorial districts to address what he termed the severe marginalisation, injustice and political exclusion they had been subjected to since the territory was created 50 years.

The FCT Stakeholders Assembly made the demands on Tuesday while briefing the media on the 50th anniversary of the FCT.

The President of the FCT Stakeholders’ Assembly, Dr. Aliyu Kwali, said the indigenes also sought additional federal constituencies to be created to address under representation as well as the re-classification of the Area Councils as Local Government Areas, consistent with other states of the federation.

They also demanded the establishment of governance structures that would ensure indigenous participation in decisions affecting their lives.

Kwali noted that the federal government may today reflect on achievements in urban planning, architecture, and infrastructure development, the 50th anniversary of Abuja carried a very different meaning for the original inhabitants of the FCT.

The natives lamented that the five decades had been marked not by celebration, but by systematic dispossession, exclusion, and marginalisation.

They said they had during the period borne deep and enduring scars, including, socio-economic segregation, loss of ancestral lands and livelihoods, forced demolition of homes, desecration of cultural sites, burial grounds, and persistent poverty imposed by policy.

“These are not abstract grievances. They are lived realities that distinguish indigenous FCT communities from other citizens of Nigeria, not by choice, but by constitutional and administrative design.

“Section 42(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) guarantees freedom from discrimination. Yet in practice, the original inhabitants of the FCT experience systematic denial of rights enjoyed by other Nigerians.

“Through legislation and administrative action, the Federal Government has imposed restrictions and disabilities on indigenous FCT communities solely because of their identity as Original Inhabitants.

“This pattern has manifested most visibly in forced demolitions, often carried out without adequate notice, assessment, compensation, or resettlement — a practice that remains peculiar to indigenous communities within the FCT.

“Communities such as Gishiri, Karsana, and Kuchibedna have suffered such demolitions, reinforcing the perception that development in the FCT continues to occur at the expense of its first inhabitants,” Kwali said. Arise News)

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