Plateau High Court Rules Hausa-Fulani Woman Eligible for Indigene Certificate Amid Backlash

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A Plateau State High Court judgment has declared that a Hausa woman born and raised in Jos North is entitled to an indigene certificate. Justice C. Donglong held that issuing a residential certificate instead of an indigene certificate based on ethnicity is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The court ordered the Jos North Local Government Council to issue the indigene certificate within 30 days and permanently stop substituting residential certificates. The suit was brought by Fatima Baba Akawu and her father after the council refused to grant her indigeneship despite her birth and upbringing in the area. Indigenous groups under the Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives (PIDAN) have vowed to appeal, arguing the ruling conflicts with past judicial commissions and Supreme Court affirmations that recognize Berom, Afizere and Anaguta communities as Jos indigenes. The dispute reignites long-standing debates on citizenship rights and ancestral ownership in Plateau State.

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