By Olokuta Rofiat
The RStart slideshowStart slideshowesource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), has called on the Federal Government to halt the conversion of sacred and ancestral sites in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), into luxury estates, warning that the practice endangers the heritage and survival of Indigenous communities.
CHRICED Executive Director, Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, said aggressive urban development and the takeover of sacred lands have fueled land dispossession, political exclusion, and cultural erosion for Abuja’s original inhabitants over two million people from nine tribes and 17 chiefdoms, who remain without democratic representation despite Supreme Court rulings affirming their rights.
The group warned that displacing low-income Indigenous residents violates Nigeria’s constitutional and international obligations to protect housing and property rights.
It urged the Federal Government and the FCT Administration to end demolitions and land reclassification in Indigenous areas, and to adopt inclusive urban planning that safeguards cultural heritage while ensuring fair compensation and relocation.
CHRICED further renewed its call for constitutional reforms to guarantee political representation, cultural preservation, and data sovereignty for the FCT’s original inhabitants, stressing that true development must preserve, not erase their identity and legacy.
