From Nabob Ogbonna Abakiliki
The government of Ebonyi state yesterday revealed that it has paid over 1.6 billion naira as compensation to property owners at the popular Venco junction in the metropolis of the state capital, Abakiliki.
Salient Times learnt that properties not less than 80 have been destroyed, and hundreds of persons displaced following the ongoing construction of a mega flyover, tunnel and doubled lanes in the area.
The Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Matthew Nwaobashi, made this known in an interview with Journalists in Abakaliki, the state capital, on Wednesday.
According to him, “the state government led by Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru has paid adequate compensation to so many landlords in this state where we have acquired, and that is the mandate of my ministry.
“For instance, in the place we are building, the state university of ITC, about 15 homes were displaced. We have paid them compensation. We did not stop at that; we have resettled them by building houses and new bungalows for them.
“The same applies to where we are building Neval Secondary School at Amachara, where we acquired about 20 hectares of land. There, about 11 homes were affected. We have also compensated them.
“The same applies to Onueke, where we are building the University of Aeronautics Engineering and Aerospace.
The land we acquired there, we are yet to pay them compensation, but we have taken the enumeration of the affected areas.
“At Ngbo-agbaja, the same thing. We have acquired land there for estates.
We have enumerated them, but we have yet to pay them compensation.
“If you go to Vanco Junction, like the governor announced today, because of the construction that is ongoing, we have paid about 1.68 billion Naira compensation there. So you can see with me that we are doing very, very well,” he stated”.
