By Sarah NEGEDU
Indigenous groups in the Federal Capital Territory have urged Minister Nyesom Wike to extend his tough stance in the recent confrontation with a naval officer to longstanding disputes over military occupation of ancestral lands across Abuja.
They say the Gaduwa incident has reopened long-suppressed grievances and created a moment for decisive action on what they describe as years of unauthorised confiscation and displacement.
Their appeal comes amid renewed scrutiny of the role of security agencies in land administration, following Wike’s face-off with Navy Lieutenant A.M. Yerima at a disputed Gaduwa plot.
Indigenous leaders say the standoff mirrors a deeper pattern that has played out for more than a decade in communities such as Tunga-Maje, the Airport Road corridor and several settlements where military formations are alleged to have taken over land without dialogue, compensation or proper documentation.
Tunga-Maje, in particular, has been in the news over repeated clashes between the military and indigenes. Reports show that as far back as 2016, soldiers reportedly marked homes for demolition and felled farmlands, prompting protests and petitions to successive FCT administrations. Residents say that despite court orders restraining eviction, military personnel deployed heavy machinery to assert control over land claimed by indigenous families, igniting tensions that would resurface in subsequent years.
The situation escalated in 2019, when a protest over alleged military encroachment turned violent, leaving a student dead and several others injured. Community leaders at the time reported bulldozer deployments, destruction of farmlands, and heavy-handed enforcement operations in the years that followed, thereby leading to additional court actions and formal complaints.
However, the Abuja Original Inhabitants and Youths Empowerment Organisation, AOIYEO, said the minister’s recent intervention over a plot reportedly linked to a former Chief of Naval Staff shows that the administration is willing to challenge powerful institutions when allocations appear irregular.
AOIYEO President, Isaac David, urged Wike to apply the same resolve to long-pending cases affecting native families.
Speaking recently to the media David said, “We are tired of waiting endlessly for the FCT Administration to intervene and tell the military to vacate our ancestral land, but nothing is done till date. We watched on television the FCT Minister trying to recover a plot of land belonging to a former Chief of Naval Staff, according to news report, that was not properly allocated. Now we want the same Minister to use such zeal to recover our land from the military command that has been occupying our ancestral land without approval. We have been protesting about this forceful take-over of our land years ago with government representatives always making promise to call for negotiation without any results,” Isaac said.
He added that the communities have endured years of marginalisation, and warned that tensions could escalate if the matter continues to be ignored.
“The Original Inhabitants of FCT is making this clarion call to the President, Bola Tinubu, and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to act urgently as the indigenous people have been pushed to the background and our lands being taken away without any dialogue nor compensation.
“For some years now the indigènes have been marginalized, rejected and pushed back and we say it is time for action that will be of great benefits to our people,” Amb. Isaac added.
He warned that continued delays could escalate tensions in affected districts, particularly in Tunga-Maje, where past protests and clashes over military encroachment have resulted in arrests, injuries and petitions to successive FCT administrations.
The group while linking their appeal to Wike’s viral clash with the navy, say the administration now has both the public mandate and the moral obligation to speak firmly on the pattern of security agencies occupying land without formal acquisition or compensation.
