Over 300 indigenous women and youth of the FCT have been given vocational training and market access while over 44 marginalised persons with disability have been placed under training for cultural heritage preservation from the nine tribes in Abuja.
Godwin Arome Onoja, Program Manager, Helpline Social Support Initiative, made the revelation at a press conference on promoting the rights of FCT original inhabitants with the theme “Strengthing the Cultural Rights of FCT Original Inhabitants”, held on Thursday in Abuja.
He said, through the Resource Centre for Human Right and Civic Education (CHRICED) and MacArthur Foundation, this second phase of the promotion project will continue to improve on legacies built on the vulnerable women and youth.
Onoja said a comprehensive survey of victims of forced eviction from ancestral land has already been conducted.
Commandant Isaac Aoiyeo, who spoke on behalf of the original inhabitants , while commending Helpline and CHRICED., called on residents to join hands and demand for transparency and accountability in governance.
He said original inhabitants are also renewing their call on the federal government to address what they describe as decades of injustice, displacement and systemic marginalisation suffered by the loss of their ancestral land.
The nine tribes are Amomoa, Bassa, Gade, Ganagana, Gbari, Gwandara, Egbura and Koro.
