Rights group flays govt for ‘continued marginalisation’ of FCT indigenes

Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) has decried the ‘continued marginalisation’ of original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), saying the Federal Government had done nothing to halt the trend.

It also faulted government for “disobeying court judgment that would have tackled some of the injustices suffered by the FCT indigenes.”
Addressing journalists to mark the World Indigenous Peoples Day in Abuja, the organisation’s Executive Director, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said majority of the original inhabitants live in penury, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari would go down in the history of the country just like his predecessors as a leader, who has done “great injustices to the FCT original inhabitants.”

The World Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated every August 9. Zikirullahi argued that the alleged refusal of the Federal Government to appoint an indigene of the FCT as a minister, which would have given them a sense of belonging, buttresses the fact that they have been relegated to the background.

According to him, Abuja indigenes bring a lot to the table in terms of knowledge, cultural repositories and key strategies towards protecting the environment and mother earth.