The forum of village heads from the proposed Abia Airport host communities in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, yesterday, declared that they would boycott a meeting of all village and compound heads convened by the Abia State Government at Government House, Umuahia for today.
They made this known in response to an invitation from the government for a crucial meeting.
The Village heads in the letter addressed to Pastor Okorougo Aji, Special Assistant to the Governor (Lands & Housing) and Project Coordinator of Abia Airport Project, urged the state government to continue its engagement with a designated technical committee, which comprises their appointed representatives, and with the mandate to deliberate on critical issues and work towards mutually acceptable solutions.
The Village Heads further explained that they had collectively agreed to establish the technical committee charged with addressing unresolved concerns, particularly regarding the size of the land being acquired and the broader socio-economic impact on the affected communities.
They said: “In line with our previous agreement, the village heads and their representatives will not be attending the scheduled meeting on February 6, 2025.
“We strongly encourage the government to continue discussions with our technical committee, which will subsequently report back to us on the outcomes of their engagement.”
In the letter by Engr. Ikechukwu Uche and Gabriel Echezolam as Chairman of Chairmen and Secretary, the Village Heads said: “Our people remain committed to constructive engagement and meaningful dialogue with the government to address all outstanding issues and reaffirm our willingness to explore avenues that lead to a fair and just resolution for all parties involved.
“Once substantial progress has been achieved, an expanded meeting, including village and compound heads, as well as youth and women representatives, will be convened to review and formalise any agreements reached.”
They further stated that the resolutions were reached at an expanded meeting which was attended by key stakeholders, including representatives of the Abia State Government, landowners, the state Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Commissioner of Police held on January 3, 2025, at Umuezeukwu and adopted at another meeting the next day.
Speaking to newsmen, the Chairman of the Village Heads and Land Owners, Engr. Uche said: “We are being blackmailed by Abia State Government Team, as they keep sending wrong signal to the governor, and Abians, insinuating we are opposed to the project but that is not the true position.
“We are concerned with knowing the actual size of the project, to see the map, so we can engage our private surveyor to determine if what they told us will be the same on the ground. We are also asking for the unbundling of the project.
“The Airport project we know and have accepted but that of Airport Housing Estate, five star hotel, hospital, schools are shrouded in secrecy by the state government and we have been asking, who are the owners of these other projects, Federal Government, Abia State government or private investors.
“We cannot give land for the Airport and still accormodation those other projects without knowing the owners,” he said.
On his part, the Secretary of the Forum, Gabriel Echezolam said, inviting them to a meeting, when they were going behind to plan enumeration without any memorandum of understanding with the technical team was suspicious.
He said they don’t want a situation where they may be coaxed into signing any document they may not fully understand the contents and pointed to the case of Abia pensioners, who have been having running battles with the state over documents they signed and later claimed they do not know the contents.
“We have carefully selected our technical team, let them deal with the team, we can only engage the state government after they tie all loosed ends and we will then fully join them for the enumeration,” he added.
