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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Government said it has paid about 3,500 persons compensation for the airport project located at Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of the state. The payment was for those whose lands are within the runway axis of the project.
The Chief of Staff to the Governor, Caleb Ajagba, who disclosed this at the airport project site when he paid a fact-finding visit to the site in company of some commissioners, promised that everyone whose land was acquired for the project would be fully compensated.
The team’s visit was prompted by complaints by some landowners in the area that they were yet to be paid any form of compensation for their land acquired for the airport project.
“Everybody will get paid”, Ajagba assured, adding, “For now, we are concentrating on the runway. We have paid about 3,500 people. And it will continue to get to everybody as they come around to complete their indemnity certificates.”
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Re-affirming the decision of the government to ensure all land donors to the project get paid, the Ajagba said: “We had to come around on a fact-finding mission. And we discovered that it’s not that they have not been paid, but some of them have challenges with either their accounts or maybe they have not completed the mandatory indemnity certificate that will enable them to get paid.
“We also had complaints about clearing of areas that are not enumerated. And we discovered that that is human error by one of the tractor operators. And of course, that has been corrected. And this has also been done to the satisfaction of the host community.”
Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr Chaka Chukwumerije noted that the government has paid every landowner within the runway.
“This is a responsive government with a human face. We put people first. So everyone within the runway has been paid,” he said.
He, however, said if there were people within the runway that haven’t been paid, it was an exception which, government will deal with soon.
The land donors commended the state government for taking a proactive measure over the issue.
