A Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos has ruled that a person of Hausa origin born and raised in Jos North Local Government Area is entitled to be recognised as an indigene of the area.
The judgment was delivered on Tuesday by Justice C. Donglong in a suit filed by Fatima Baba Akawu and her father, Baba Alhaji Akawu, against the Jos North Local Government Council over the refusal to issue an indigene certificate to the first claimant.
The applicants asked the court to determine whether the first claimant, born in Jos North to a father recognised as an indigene of the area, could be denied indigene status on the basis of ethnicity, and whether such denial violated constitutional provisions on non-discrimination.
They also challenged the legality of issuing a “Residential Certificate” in place of an indigene certificate, arguing that it had no basis in law and could not be used to determine eligibility for public benefits reserved for indigenes.
Another issue before the court was whether the status of the second claimant, a recognised indigene and former representative of Jos North in the House of Representatives in 1983, extended indigene rights to his biological children.
In his judgment, Justice Donglong resolved all the issues in favour of the claimants and granted their reliefs.
He held that the refusal to recognise the first claimant amounted to discrimination and could not be justified under the Constitution.
The judge said: “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.
“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. The defendant’s conduct, by issuing a Residential Certificate to the 1st claimant, a Hausa by ethnic origin, while issuing a Certificate of Indigene to Dung Bot of the Berom ethnic origin, both on the same date for the same application is a reprehensible act of ethnic discrimination that is inconsistent to the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“This court, as admonished by the Supreme Court in Anzaku v. Governor of Nasarawa State (supra), rises as the occasion demands to ensure that the constitutional rights of the individual are never trampled upon.”
Justice Donglong further declared that children born to a recognised indigene of Jos North are entitled to be issued indigene certificates.
He added: “By virtue of the 2nd claimant’s status as a bona fide indigene of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State and the constitutional provisions of Section 25(1)(a) and (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), his biological children, including the 1st claimant, who were born and raised in Jos North Local Government Area, are entitled to be recognized as indigenes of Jos North LGA of Plateau State and to be issued Certificate of Indigene accordingly.
“An ORDER of Perpetual Injunction is hereby granted restraining the defendant, whether by herself, her privies, agents, or delegates, from further issuing or continuing to issue Residential Certificates to any person as a substitute for a Certificate of Indigene, same being unknown to law, ultra vires, null and void.”
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