Abia Airport: We’ve taken over our lands for farming season, landowners tell Abia Govt

2026-02-18 - 12:17

By Ugochukwu Alaribe, UMUAHIA Landowners of the Abia Airport project in Nsulu in the Isiala Ngwa North council area have announced the takeover of their farmlands for the farming season, citing what they described as insincerity and lack of transparency by the state government. The landowners who are from Okpuala, Umuezenta and Umuelenwa in Umuomainta Autonomous Community and Mbawsi said their decision was driven by the need to avert hunger and economic hardship in the communities. The communities accused the Abia State Ministry of Lands and Survey of failing to address repeated complaints about alleged fictitious or non-existent names included in the compensation list. They lamented that the government was not engaging directly with the genuine landowners, which has led to a lack of confidence in the process. Speaking while conducting journalists round the proposed runway site, the Village Head of Umuezenta and Secretary of the Nsulu Landowners Association, Echezolam Ukaumunna, said the landowners were no longer comfortable with the handling of the acquisition and compensation process. He said, “We, the people, appreciate the importance of this project. We are not against development. We have seen the portion involved in the runway, and we are asking the government to take that and allow the project to move on. But let them leave the areas outside the 3.54-kilometre runway stretch. “We are begging the government to allow us access to our farmlands that are outside the runway. You can see that we did not farm last year. Our livelihoods have suffered. If this airport comes to stay and the people cannot survive, then the project becomes meaningless. It is the people who will enjoy the project; it is the people who will benefit from the improvement.” He alleged that fictitious names were discovered on the compensation lists for Okpuala, Umuezenta and Umuelenwa, while many genuine landowners, some with up to 50 to 80 portions of land, had yet to receive payment. “Transparency would require the government to publicly release the names of the 3,500 persons it claimed had been fully compensated. “In Umuezenta alone, we identified 150 fictitious names; in Umulenwa, there are over 130 questionable names, and likewise in Okpuala. They know those who are responsible for the names. “We know ourselves; we farm together and live together. Within one year, you will know a new face in your community. We gathered our people, including those in the diaspora, and carefully verified these names from compound to compound. We have substantial evidence. Even some consultants have admitted there are fictitious names on the list. A certain favour – one of the consultants was invited for interrogation by the DSS. “At one point, we were told 3,500 people had been paid. Later, we heard it was 500. We demanded the list of those paid. Instead of giving us that, we were given a list of those yet to be paid, and we still discovered fictitious names there. “We are asking the government to sort out these names so that adequate compensation will go to the real landowners. Let there be a proper agreement in black and white so that our children will not accuse us tomorrow of selling them out.” Ukaumunna also alleged that the state government had yet to disclose the rate being paid per portion of land or for cash crops. He claimed that some landowners invited to Umuahia were asked to sign indemnity forms without clear breakdowns of how compensation figures were calculated. In their separate remarks, Isaac Ndukwe and Mrs Ihuoma Ogubunka expressed frustration over what they described as a persistent lack of transparency and called on Governor Alex Otti to closely scrutinise those handling negotiations with the villagers. They said the inability to farm last year has deepened hardship among families and assured that they remain open to dialogue, provided discussions are held directly with the verified landowners and conducted transparently. As of the time of filing this report, efforts to get the reaction of the coordinator of the Abia airport, Pastor Okorougo Aji, were unsuccessful.