Abuja youth threaten to give residents quit notice over neglect

Some persons under the aegis of ‘FCT Natives and Marginalised Youth’ on Tuesday besiege the national assembly in a protest against alleged neglect by the government.

The youth, who claimed to be natives of the federal capital territory, Abuja, threatened to give all residents a quit notice if the government did not look into their demands.

They lamented the non-inclusion of an Abuja native in the federal executive council, and demanded the establishment of a development commission for the city.

Speaking to journalists, Yinusa Buhu Bokun, leader of the group, said they would be forced to issue a quit notice to all residents of the city if their demands were not met.

“Our demand has grown to agitation and the next level will be either asking all the people who live here to also vacate our land as other people are practising,” he said.

“We demand immediate appointment of an FCT native in the composition of federal executive council for the purpose of geographical balancing and equity; create two additional senatorial districts and four additional federal constituencies; We demand an elected mayorial council to form the legislative arm of the city government; we advocate the integration of the original inhabitants in the development of the FCT instead of resettlement, and create the Abuja Original Inhabitants Development Commission to undertake specific infrastructure development among others.”

Dino Melaye, a senator from Kogi west and chairman senate committee on FCT, who spoke to the protesters, assured them that their demands would be presented to the senate president.

The threat to Abuja residents is coming a few days after some Arewa youth groups asked all Igbo resident in the north to vacate the region in three months.