HURIWA expresses worry over FCT’s threat to displace Ushafa indigenes, residents

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has threatened to pursue to a logical conclusion the harassment of indigenous settlers and other residents of Ushafa in Bwari Area Council of Abuja.

HURIWA, in a statement issued and signed by its coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, warned the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Water Board and those alleged to be sponsoring the threat to stop creating fear and unnecessary tension in an area commissioned officially by the then American President, Bill Clinton, and had since become a recognised village globally.

HURIWA said a letter detailing what was happening in Ushafa was in the working, and would be sent to the former United States president and other human right groups across Nigeria as well as the international community.

The body revealed that it had carried out an independent investigation on what was happening in Ushafa and that after water board’s several attempts to displace the people failed, it resorted to media sponsorship, concocting stories against indigenes and residents.

According to the right group, “the desperation of the water board to quickly displace the people who have occupied their fatherland for several years smacks of a serious secret deal that must be investigated.

“Our investigation has shown that at least, two known estate developers interested in the area had, under the guise of proximity to the dam, threatened to displace residents,” it said.