The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education(CHRICED )has urged the international community to prevail on the Nigerian Government to immediately halt the eviction and displacement of Abuja’s Indigenous communities, warning that the continued demolitions are deepening injustice and threatening the survival of their cultural identity.
The Executive Director of CHRICED, Dr Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, made the call while addressing the 2026 session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
He appealed to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, member states and other stakeholders to intensify pressure on Nigeria to stop forced evictions, provide restitution for affected families and implement rights-based resettlement for displaced Indigenous communities.
Zikirullahi also called on the Federal Government to formally recognise Abuja’s Original Inhabitants as Indigenous Peoples with full legal protection and guarantee their political participation through democratic representation.
He further urged authorities to adopt conflict-sensitive development policies, protect Indigenous data rights in the era of artificial intelligence and establish disaggregated national data systems reflecting the realities of Abuja’s Original Inhabitants.
According to him, Abuja’s Indigenous communities are facing worsening conditions driven by repeated demolitions, displacement and denial of fundamental rights.
“Abuja’s Original Inhabitants are living through a silent conflict—marked by demolitions, displacement, erasure, and denial of rights. Their situation is not improving; it is worsening,” he said.
He warned that development should not come at the expense of vulnerable communities.
“Development must never be weaponised against Indigenous Peoples. AI must never become a new frontier of dispossession. Language must never be allowed to die because a people were pushed off their land,” Zikirullahi stated.
The rights advocate also raised concerns over the gradual disappearance of Abuja’s Indigenous languages, including Gbagyi, Bassa, Gwandara, Koro and Ganagana, attributing the trend to displacement, urbanisation, shrinking cultural spaces and inadequate government support.
He noted that recent demolitions had destroyed not only homes but also the cultural environments where Indigenous languages and traditions were preserved.
Zikirullahi urged the Nigerian Government to recognise Abuja’s Indigenous languages as part of the country’s national heritage, integrate them into local education, support community-led language revitalisation efforts and invest in digital and AI-powered preservation initiatives.
“The demolitions of the past year have destroyed not only homes but also linguistic ecosystems—the spaces where language is lived, transmitted and embodied,” he said.
Calling for urgent international intervention, he said “Nigeria must uphold the rights of Abuja’s Indigenous communities in line with global human rights obligations.
“We therefore call on this Mechanism to act with urgency and resolve. Justice delayed is dignity denied,” he added.
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