Abuja natives pass vote of no confidence on FCT minister
Some indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have passed a vote of no confidence on the FCT Minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed, calling on the incoming administration to investigate land allocation in the territory.
The natives of Kpaduma communities, who through a peaceful protest on Wednesday, barricaded major roads in Asokoro District to make public their grievances against the FCT administration, added that the FCTA’s land policy has almost turned them into strangers in their ancestral homes.
The protest was led by a leader of the community and immediate past councilor who represented Garki ward in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bala Iyah.
“I must confess that we no longer have confidence in the government of Sen. Bala Mohammed. We do not trust his method of allocating land to people in the FCT. There is no sincerity in what he is doing to us as indigenes, because all his policies are antiindigenes; his policies do not favour us at all,” Iyah said.
While urging the incoming administration to probe the administration of the Sen. Bala Mohammed, he said any allocation found to be irregular should be revoked.
He said further that the minister did not respect a court order restraining further demolition of houses in the communities and continuous harassment from allotees.
“The minister set up a ministerial committee for us to dialogue on how to go about the settlement of issues between our communities and the FCTA. We respected that order, we are presently on the settlement state and we have arrived at what we want. But despite the fact that it was the minister that set up the committee, he has failed to comply.
“As I am talking to you, people from the FCTA and allotees are still disturbing us, they are still threatening our lives. The minister promised us that pending the determination of our case in court, there will not be demolition in our communities, but they are still disturbing our peace with endless threat of demolition.
Iyah explained that they have been living in constant fears of waking to find bacons on their plots of land every morning, with strangers claiming their houses.
They further said that they are completely against the resettlement policy of the FCT and call on the incoming administration to set up a better integration plan for indigenes of the territory.
“We are also calling on the present Balaled administration to adequately compensate indigenes for their farm produce that were destroyed when their farmlands were forcefully taken from them,” he said.