BARELY a week after the Coalition of Arewa Youths issued a 90-day ultimatum asking Igbos living in the North to leave, the ‘original inhabitants’ of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) seem to have joined the bandwagon as they on Tuesday threatened a quit notice to all other residents of the territory if their demands are not met by the government.

The natives, who besieged the Three Arms Zone naked, stated that the threat became necessary given the level of what they described as “gross marginalisation” in federal appointments and “deprivation” of their rights over the years.

Working under the auspices of a group, FCT Natives Marginalised Youths, the protesters promised to carry out their threat if government failed to hearken to their warning by addressing alleged persistent injustice against the natives of Abuja who they said have become internally displaced people (IDPs) in their ancestral land.

However, unlike their Arewa Youths Coalition counterparts, the FCT Natives Marginalised Youths did not give any ultimatum as to when the quit notice would be issued.

‎Determined to be heard, the protesters, who carried placards and other traditional communication tools, defied security operatives who barricaded the entrance to the National Assembly, insisting on occupying the complex.

Some of the inscriptions on their placards read, ‘Non-inclusion in the FEC’; ‘Natives demand constitutional right’; ‘We are tired of starvation’; ‘We need native minister’, etc.

Amongst their grievances is the exclusion of what they referred to as “a real” native of the FCT in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Speaking on behalf of the group, the leader, Yinusa Buhu Bokunun, stated that failure of the Federal Government to address the issue of inequality and discrimination against them, the group would be compelled to declare the quit notice on all residents living in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to vacate the city and environs.

He accused the Senate of insensitivity toward their plight, saying that “our demand has grown to agitation and the next level will be either asking all the people who live here to also vacate our land as other people are practising.

“We feel we are the citizens who have maintained peace over the year, we feel we have been accommodating right from our ancestors, but we have been pushed to the wall. We want to know why FCT natives have not been part of the decision making process in this country”, he queried.

The group expressed regret for giving their support to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, adding that after two years, the Senate has not made any law that would better their standard of living or anything that has direct impact on their well-being.

They also accused government of twisting the constitution to marginalise them and favour other regions.

Some of the group’s demands include: “immediate appointment of FCT native into the Federal Executive Council for the purpose of geographical balancing and equity.

“Creation of two additional senatorial districts and four additional federal constituencies in the FCT; creation of a mayoral status for the territory with an elected mayor to form a legislative arm of the city’s government and integration of the original inhabitants in the development of the FCT instead of resettlement.”

Others are “creation of the Abuja Original Inhabitants Developments Commission to undertake specific infrastructural development, among others”.

Addressing the protesters, Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi), Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, said their message would be communicated to the Senate president, adding that neither he nor the Senate president could grant their demands but promised to talk to the appropriate authority.

Dino commended the protesters for their peaceful disposition and conduct.  — Independent

—  Jun 14, 2017 @ 12:05 GMT