Abuja airport road blocked by protesters

A group of indigenous Gbagi people of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),Abuja, on Tuesday disrupted traffic on the Umar Musa Yar’dua Way to protest against the Federal Government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesters blocked the highway for about an hour causing gridlock.

Some air travellers who were rushing to catch their flights at the airport were frustrated by the development.

Although, the protesters had opened the road before NAN arrived the spot but one of the protesters, Fred Ekeng, said that the protest was to drive home their demand for recognition as indigenous people.

Ekeng said the protest was to tell government that the people should be given their proper place in the territory.

According to him, the people are saying no to ceaseless taking over of their land.

“We came here to express our displeasure with the way the government and the military are ceasing our lands without compensation and treating us like second class citizens in our own land.

“We are saying that henceforth, the position of the Minister of FCT should be held by an indigene instead of an outsider.

“We also want the government to treat us with respect because they keep taking over our lands and pushing us into the interiors without proper compensation, “ he said.