Abia State government has inaugurated a joint technical committee to address grey areas in land acquisition deals for the Abia Airport which is to be built in Nsulu, Isiala Ngwa North LGA.
The technical committee was inaugurated on Thursday at the Government House Umuahia, during a meeting between the Abia State government and community leaders, a technical team of land owners and compound heads.
In a communique signed by the Chief of Staff to Governor Alex Otti, Caleb Ajagba, for the government, and Uzor Azubike for the Nsulu Airport land owners, the land owners agreed to work together to address any concern that may arise in future in the course of execution of the Airport project, including further reduction in the size of acquired land.
The land owners expressed concerns about the impact of the project on their community, including displacement and loss of livelihood, and appealed to the government to consider further reduction of the land size for the airport project.
They also appealed to the state government to allow them to continue farming on the acquired land until government starts actual construction of the airport.
The Nsulu people in the communique commended President Bola Tinubu for approving an airstrip for Abia State and lauded Governor Alex Otti for upgrading the airstrip to an airport.
The state government, in its own position, promised to be transparent in the land dealings including the payment of adequate compensation to the land owners.
DAILY POST recalls that some members of Nsulu community had in December 2024 protested against the land acquisition, while claiming that the state government engaged the wrong persons in the deal.
