A Plateau-based group has rejected a High Court ruling that granted indigeneship status to Hausa/Fulani residents of Jos North Local Government Area. The Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of Natives (PIDAN) made its position known at a press conference in Jos on Monday.
PIDAN said it will appeal the judgment. The group plans to use every legal and constitutional avenue available to challenge Justice C.
Donglong's decision from June 9, 2026.
Leadership met in emergency session to assess the ruling's impact. They've already begun talks with allied organisations across the state.
A committee was set up immediately. Its job is to study the judgment and map out legal options for appeal.
Ambassador Danjuma Nanpon Sheni, PIDAN's president, and Secretary-General Comrade Danjuma Dickson Auta signed the group's statement. They urged residents to stay calm while legal proceedings continue.
According to PIDAN, the indigeneship question in Jos North was settled long ago. Various judicial commissions had already addressed it following past communal crises.
The group pointed to four major judicial processes. These include the 1994 Aribiton Fiberesima Commission, the 2001 Niki Tobi Commission, the 2008 Bola Ajibola Commission, and the 2004 Plateau Peace Conference.
In their statement, all four processes recognised only the Afizere, Anaguta, and Berom as indigenous to Jos and Jos North. Other communities were acknowledged merely as long-settled residents.
PIDAN questioned Justice Donglong's legal basis for the ruling. The group said it contradicts established court decisions stretching back decades.
A High Court challenge to the Fiberesima report was dismissed on April 6, 1996. That case was filed as Suit No.
PLD/J382/91.
The Court of Appeal upheld that dismissal on November 22, 2000, in Appeal No. CA/J/76/99.
The Supreme Court later affirmed both lower courts on April 24, 2009.
PIDAN argued the latest judgment conflicts with these earlier authorities. It appears inconsistent with legal positions established over many years.
According to the group, distinguishing between citizenship and indigeneship isn't unique to Plateau. Such distinctions exist right across Nigeria in various forms.
Constitutional citizenship rights are different from claims of ancestral ownership. PIDAN stressed this point as fundamental to understanding the issue.
Customary recognition also differs from legal indigeneship status. These are separate concepts that shouldn't be confused.
PIDAN acknowledged the contributions of other ethnic groups living in the state. But the group said such acknowledgment doesn't change its stance on Jos North indigeneity.
