A PLATEAU State High Court has ruled that Hausas born and raised in Jos North Local Government Area are entitled to be recognised as indigenes, holding that ethnicity cannot be used as a basis for denying constitutional rights and privileges.
News Point Nigeria reports that delivering judgement, Justice C. Donglong ruled in favour of Fatima Baba Akawu and her father, Baba Alhaji Akawu, who had sued the Jos North Local Government Council over its refusal to issue the first claimant a Certificate of Indigeneship despite her being born and raised in the area.
The applicants had asked the court to determine, among other issues, whether Fatima Akawu—by virtue of her birth in Jos North LGA to a father recognised as a bona fide indigene—was entitled to indigene status and issuance of a Certificate of Indigene notwithstanding her Hausa ethnic origin.
They also questioned whether the council’s decision to deny her indigene certificate while issuing her a Residential Certificate, and simultaneously granting a Certificate of Indigene to one Dung Bot of Berom ethnic origin on the same day, amounted to unconstitutional discrimination under the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The claimants further argued that Baba Alhaji Akawu’s status as a recognised indigene of Jos North—bolstered by his previous service as a member of the House of Representatives representing the constituency in 1983—also entitled his children to be recognised as indigenes of the area.
They additionally sought a declaration on whether the Residential Certificate issued to the first claimant could lawfully serve as a substitute for a Certificate of Indigene or determine eligibility for opportunities reserved for indigenes.
In his judgement, Justice Donglong resolved all four issues in favour of the claimants and granted all reliefs sought.
“Pursuant to a careful and diligent consideration of all the processes before this court, the uncontroverted affidavit evidence placed before this court by the Claimants, the documentary exhibits attached thereto and the Written Address filed in support of the Originating Summons and having resolved all four (4) issues for determination in favour of the claimants, I am of the firm and considered opinion that this Originating Summons is meritorious and ought to be granted,” the judge held.
The judge stressed that the court was duty-bound to protect citizens from discrimination based on ethnicity and circumstances of birth.
“This court is particularly moved by the constitutional imperative to protect every Nigerian citizen’s right to freedom from discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin and the circumstances of birth,” Justice Donglong said.
He described the actions of the local government as discriminatory, noting that issuing a Residential Certificate to a Hausa applicant while granting an Indigene Certificate to a Berom applicant on the same day for the same application amounted to an “unconstitutional” act.
“The defendant’s conduct… is a reprehensible act of ethnic discrimination that is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” he added.
Citing judicial authority, the judge further stated that the court must act decisively to protect constitutional rights whenever they are threatened.
“This court… rises as the occasion demands to ensure that the constitutional rights of the individual are never trampled upon,” he said.
In a key aspect of the ruling, the court declared that the children of Baba Alhaji Akawu—including the first claimant—are entitled to indigene status by virtue of their father’s recognition and their birth in Jos North LGA.
“By virtue of the 2nd claimant’s status as a bona fide indigene of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State… his biological children, including the 1st claimant… are entitled to be recognised as indigenes of Jos North LGA,” the court ruled.
Justice Donglong also issued a perpetual injunction restraining the local government from issuing Residential Certificates as substitutes for Certificates of Indigene, declaring such practice unlawful, ultra vires, null and void.