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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Plateau State may be gripped in another round of crisis following the various interpretations given to a judgment of the Jos High Court, which granted indigeneship status to any Hausa person born in Jos.
Justice C. Dunglong of the Plateau State High Court, in a ruling delivered on 9 June, said the state is duty-bound to issue an indigeneship certificate to any Hausa person born in Jos.
The ruling followed a suit filed by Fatima Baba Akawu and her father, Baba Alhaji Akawu, against Jos North Local Government Area Council over the refusal of the council to issue the first claimant a certificate of indigeneship despite her being born and raised in the local government area.
The duo had approached the court seeking a determination of four issues, including whether Fatima Akawu, by virtue of her birth in Jos North Local Government Area to a father recognised as a bona fide indigene of the area, was entitled to be recognised as an indigene and issued a certificate of indigene, notwithstanding her Hausa ethnic origin.
In their writ of summons, the applicants also asked the court to determine whether the denial of the certificate, while issuing her a residential certificate and granting a certificate of indigene to one Dung Bot of Berom ethnic origin on the same date, amounted to unconstitutional discrimination contrary to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
However, Plateau groups and indigenes have risen in stout opposition to the ruling, saying the issue of ownership of Jos had been settled by past judicial panels on Plateau crises and the Plateau Peace Conference.
The Jos North Local Government Council on Monday filed a suit at the Plateau State High Court seeking to set aside the judgment delivered on 9 June 2026.
The council averred that the decision was reached without a fair hearing and proper service of court processes.
In a motion on notice, the council is asking the court to nullify its earlier judgment in Suit No. PLD/J215/2026 involving Fatima Baba Akawu and Baba Alhaji Akawu.
The application, brought pursuant to relevant provisions of the Plateau State High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2020, and Sections 6(6)(a) and 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, seeks an order setting aside the judgment and all consequential orders made by the court.
In an affidavit deposed to by the chairman of Jos North Local Government Area, John K. Christopher, the council stated that it became aware of the judgment only on 11 June 2026, two days after the decision was delivered.
The affidavit stated that upon inquiry at the court registry, the council confirmed that a default judgment had been entered against it.
Jos North Local Government argued that proceedings leading to the judgment were conducted without its knowledge and participation.
In the court documents filed by the council and obtained by our correspondent, the originating summons was allegedly not properly issued, and requisite hearing notices were not served on the local government before proceedings commenced.
The council further alleged that the only hearing notice served on it bore the heading of the High Court sitting in Pankshin, despite the matter being heard and determined in Jos.
It also claimed that the hearing dates communicated differed from the actual dates the matter was heard.
The defendant/applicant said it was never served with requisite hearing notices and was denied its right to fair hearing in the determination of Suit No. PLD/J215/2026.
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The council further argued that the proceedings were conducted without effective notice and participation, and that judgment was delivered despite its absence throughout the proceedings.
The chairman further alleged that a hearing notice served on the council indicated that the matter was pending before the Pankshin Judicial Division, prompting officials to travel there on the scheduled date only to discover that no such case was listed.
According to the affidavit, “Following the hearing notice which purported to have been issued by the Pankshin Judicial Division, the applicant’s staff was at the High Court, Pankshin, but was informed that no such case was pending in the division.”
The council further stated that it was never aware of, nor served with, any hearing notice whatsoever in respect of the conduct of the matter.
It therefore urged the court to restore the matter to the General Cause List and allow a hearing on the merits.
It also sought an order setting aside all consequential reliefs granted in the judgment, including the directive compelling the issuance of a certificate of indigene to the first claimant, declarations made by the court and the order of perpetual injunction.
The court is yet to fix a date for the hearing.
The Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of Natives (PIDAN) has also threatened court action over the judgment.
In a press briefing in Jos, PIDAN said it would pursue all available legal and constitutional means to challenge the decision.
The group said it had entered into collaborative talks with like-minded groups and organisations in the state and had set up a committee to immediately study the judgment and explore legal options, including filing an appeal.
In the text of the conference, jointly signed by the President of PIDAN, Amb. Danjuma Nanpon Sheni, and the Secretary-General, Danjuma Auta, the organisation called on residents of the state to remain calm, peaceful and law-abiding while legal processes take their course.
“PIDAN maintains that the question of indigenous ownership of Jos North had long been addressed through various judicial panels and commissions established following past crises in the area,” the communiqué said.
The Berom Educational and Cultural Organisation (BECO), in a statement, described the judgment as a travesty of justice.
BECO President, Da Dudu Gyang Dalyop, said the judgment was akin to flogging a dead horse, as all questions on indigene–settler issues had been settled in the past.
Meanwhile, the Hausa community in Jos said it is in total acceptance of the findings and orders of the Plateau State High Court in the judgment.
In a statement signed on their behalf by Sheikh Lawal, the community said, “We see it as a welcome development and an assertion of the position of the Nigerian Constitution and African Charters on Human & People’s Rights prohibiting discrimination in all forms.
“We call on all concerned to see reason and exercise restraint as we move together as citizens to develop Jos North, Plateau State and the nation at large.
“We salute the courage of the Plateau State judiciary in laying to rest this monster of discrimination of Nigerian citizens on the basis of indigene and settler dichotomy. We call on the administrative (executive) arm of government at all levels to muster the much-needed courage as well in implementing the court’s decision, which we hope will be for the good of all in the state.”
