The face-off between the Nigerian Army and indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which has led to deaths and injuries of varying degrees appears to have defied solutions. PAUL OKAH in this report takes a critical look at the issue.
Over the years, the Nigerian Army and the indigenous people of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been at loggerheads over the ownership of certain parcels of land in the territory. The particular land in dispute covers over 7,000 hectares cutting across Gwagwa, Idu, Zuba, Giri and other communities.
The dispute has led to allegations and counter-allegations on both sides with allegations of extra-judicial killings on the part of the army, even as the federal government has stepped into the situation.
Blueprint Weekend’s investigations revealed that a coalition of FCT indigenous associations recently accused the Nigerian Army of grabbing their lands and have, therefore, been protesting to the National Assembly over the issue.
They have also protested to the office of the minister, urging his intervention and alleging that the army wanted to collect their lands located at Zuba, Iddo, Sabo and Tuga Maje, all on Airport Road.
Protest
On April 12, this year, a group, the Coalition of FCT Indigenous Groups, protested against the alleged forceful take-over of their land by the Nigerian Army.
The group, which staged a protest at the National Assembly on Thursday, April 11, 2019, accused the military of taking their land in Giri, Kpakuru, Zuba, Ido Sariki and Tunga-Manje of the FCT.
The protesters condemned the alleged killing of one Hamza Haruna by security operatives in the capital city.
In a letter addressed to the then President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, dated April 11, 2019, which was signed by the coordinator-general of the group, Kamal Shuaibu, the group alleged that the belongings of indigenes were being carted away as a result of the displacement, even as they said their lands were being acquired and crops being destroyed by those they described as “invaders.”
Kpaduma too
Apart from the accusation against the Nigerian Army, on March 25, 2018, Blueprint Weekend reported that residents of Kpaduma community in the FCT petitioned the inspector-general of police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris; the minister of the federal capital territory, Muhammad Musa Bello; the chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; the department of state services (DSS), and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over what they described as “harassment by land developers.”
The natives also urged the security agencies to ask the developers to stay away from their community land, pending the determination of the case between the community and the FCT administration in court. The leaders of the community, who held an emergency meeting “on the continuous harassment and intimidation from developers,” made the call in a three-page resolution which they released to journalists.
In the resolution, signed by Bala Iyah, Majin Dadi of Kpaduma communities, Simon Baba, the secretary-general of the communities and Dantani Bawa, community youth leader, and released to Blueprint Weekend, the natives stated that they had never been compensated by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
They, therefore, vowed to resist any allocation within the centre of their ancestral homes and environs, saying they “will not tolerate any group or persons, organisation (s) and individual (s) who would want to intimidate” them and “forcefully take” over their land.
The statement read in part: “Kpaduma communities hereby inform all developers to stop parading, harassing and intimidating our people with armed security personnel, as we are not and will never be ready for settlement with any individual, organisation or developers. We are Nigerians and we deserve to be treated equally as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“We want to state clearly that even if the allocation papers given to any developer are revoked or not, we will not allow anybody to take possession of our community land without the settlement from the government. Enough is enough! We also want to draw the attention of the security agencies that the issue between Kpaduma communities and land developers is not and can never be a security threat nor be treated as criminal issue. It is purely a civil matter that can be addressed and settled in the law court.
“So, the security agencies should not be misled, henceforth, by the developers as our communities have vowed to protect our ancestral homes. The continuous harassments towards the peace-loving people of Kpaduma communities by the Nigerian Police, Army and the NSCDC are unfair.”
FCTA’s assurances
Prior to December 19, 2017, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the minister of the FCT, Bello, during a visit by the chief of army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Buratai, to his office, said the FCT Administration would reclaim the lands belonging to the Nigerian Army in the territory that had been encroached upon.
Bello said a team had been working to resolve the issue of land encroachment in the territory, including army landed property in all parts of the territory.
He blamed the issue of land encroachment on the influx of people into the territory as well as weak institutions in the past. According to him, lands in the FCT were being identified and gazetted with a view to reclaiming those that had been encroached upon.
Earlier, the COAS said a number of plots belonging to the army in different parts of the territory had been encroached upon and sought the assistance of the minister to reclaim them./
Buratai said the army was desirous of reclaiming its landed property in the territory that had been encroached upon, but would try to follow due process and not take the law into its hand.
Osinbajo accosted
The face-off reached an alarming crescendo when, on his way to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport enroute Ekiti state for the launch of the Homegrown School Feeding Programme on May 7, this year, the nation’s vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, ran into some protesters at Goza village.
The protesters blocked the vice-president’s motorcade, prompting him to alight to engage with the angry youth, a move that culminated in a meeting with stakeholders on Monday, May 13.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday, May 13, in Abuja, said the vice-president met with a delegation of Gbagyi leaders comprising political office holders, traditional, and youth leaders at the Presidential Villa.
During the meeting, the vice-president said the federal government was committed to adopting all necessary measures that “will lead to the amicable and just resolution of the land dispute between indigenous people of FCT and the Nigerian Army.”
Osinbajo said he had briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter and would find out from the chief of staff to the president what the presidential committee constituted to look into the issues had so far done.
The vice president also directed authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to submit, to his office, a comprehensive report on the disputed land and what it had done to resolve the matter.
“What is very important now is that we do not allow a situation where things are not done according to the law and due process. It is also important that this issue is resolved amicably and justly,” he said.
Stakeholders speak
Other attendees during the meeting with the vice-president at the Presidential Villa were the secretary, Area Councils Services Secretariat, Senator Isa Maina; chairmen of AMAC, Abdullahi Candido; Bwari Area Council, Mr Shekwogaza Gabaya and Abaji Area Council, respectively, Abdulrahman Ajiya; the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Yunusa Adamu and youth leaders from the affected communities.
Earlier, Senator Philip Aduda, the senator representing the FCT at the National Assembly, dismissed the claim by the army authorities that the land was allocated to it and appreciated the intervention of the vice-president.
However, the secretary, Area Councils Services Secretariat, Maina, said the FCT authorities, in an effort to address the issue, had already proposed to allocate a plot of land to the Nigerian Army in Kwali.
He said contrary to the directive by the presidential committee that all parties involved in the matter should maintain status quo, the Nigerian Army had proceeded to construct structures on the disputed land.
On his part, the Emir of Jiwa, His Royal Highness Idris Musa, said the indigenous people of Abuja were not against the Nigerian Army in any way, but wanted a just and amicable resolution of the matter.
More so, the representative of the youth, Mr Dalhatu Musa, who had spoken for the protesters when the vice-president interacted with them on his way to the airport, noted that the youth wanted due process to be followed in the resolution of the issue.
He commended the intervention of the vice-president and appealed to him to also look into other issues affecting the indigenous people of the territory.
