{"id":66992,"date":"2025-05-31T12:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T12:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=66992"},"modified":"2025-05-31T12:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T12:32:11","slug":"fct-natives-slam-senator-over-call-to-demolish-houses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/05\/31\/fct-natives-slam-senator-over-call-to-demolish-houses\/","title":{"rendered":"FCT Natives Slam Senator Over Call to Demolish Houses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Patrick Idowu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Indigenous groups in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have strongly criticised Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi (Ebonyi North) over his recent call for the demolition of residential settlements near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during a Senate session on May 21, Nwaebonyi described the airport corridor settlements as an \u201ceyesore\u201d that tarnishes Nigeria\u2019s image before international visitors.<\/p>\n<p>His comment sparked backlash from FCT residents and native groups who said the statement was insensitive and elitist.<\/p>\n<p>Dalhatu Ezekiel, a former Public Complaints Commissioner, condemned the senator\u2019s remarks, saying they reflect a growing detachment of some public officials from the realities of ordinary Nigerians.<\/p>\n<p>He accused Nwaebonyi of prioritising aesthetics over people\u2019s livelihoods and urged him to apologise publicly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis shows how those in government often forget the struggles of the poor once they get into power. It\u2019s undemocratic and demeaning,\u201d Ezekiel said.<\/p>\n<p>Also reacting, Yunusa Yusuf, Chairman of the FCT Indigenous People Association, said rather than propose demolition, the senator should have advocated for upgrading the settlements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel insulted. He should apologise or risk being booed by FCT natives at public events,\u201d Yusuf said.<\/p>\n<p>David Isaac, president of the Abuja Original Inhabitants Youths and Empowerment Organisation, alleged that the demolition agenda could be tied to private development interests.<\/p>\n<p>He called for compensation and resettlement of affected residents in line with global best practices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are people living near airports in other countries. If we\u2019re truly an eyesore, upgrade our communities, don\u2019t destroy them,\u201d Isaac added.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy has reignited debates around forced evictions, urban renewal, and the rights of Abuja\u2019s original inhabitants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Patrick Idowu &nbsp; Indigenous groups in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have strongly criticised Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi (Ebonyi North) over his recent call for the demolition of residential settlements near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. Speaking during a Senate session on May 21, Nwaebonyi described the airport corridor settlements as an \u201ceyesore\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":66993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66994,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66992\/revisions\/66994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}