Abia Airport: Landowners Threaten to Reclaim Farmlands Over Compensation Dispute

Landowners affected by the proposed Abia Airport project in Nsulu, Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, have threatened to reclaim their farmlands ahead of the 2026 farming season, citing unresolved compensation and transparency concerns.

The affected communities include Okpuala, Umuezenta and Umuelenwa villages in Umuomainta Autonomous Community, Mbawsi.
The landowners, who conducted journalists around the proposed runway site, said they were increasingly dissatisfied with the manner in which the land acquisition and compensation process has been handled.
Mr. Echezolam Ukaumunna, Village Head of Umuezenta and Secretary of the Nsulu Landowners Association, said the decision to reclaim the lands was driven by the urgent need to prevent hunger and worsening economic hardship in the area.
He accused the Abia State Ministry of Lands and Survey of failing to address repeated complaints regarding alleged fictitious and non-existent names on the compensation lists.
According to Ukaumunna, the government has not engaged directly with verified landowners, a situation he said has eroded trust and confidence in the process.
“We appreciate the importance of this project; we are not opposed to development,”
“We have seen the portion designated for the runway. The government should retain that and allow the project to proceed.
“But the areas outside the 3.54-kilometre runway stretch should be released to us.
“We are appealing to the government to grant us access to our farmlands outside the runway corridor.
“As you can see, we did not farm last year, and our livelihoods have suffered.
“If the airport is established and the host communities cannot survive, then the project defeats its purpose.”he said.
He alleged that fictitious names were identified on the compensation lists for Okpuala, Umuezenta and Umuelenwa.
He further claimed that several genuine landowners—some with between 50 and 80 plots of land—have yet to receive compensation.
For the sake of transparency, Ukaumunna called on the government to publicly release the names of the 3,500 individuals it claimed had been fully compensated.
“In Umuezenta alone, we identified 150 fictitious names; in Umuelenwa, over 130 questionable names were discovered, and similar irregularities were found in Okpuala,”
“We know one another; we farm and live together.
“We assembled our people, including those in the diaspora, and verified the names from compound to compound.
“We have substantial evidence. Some consultants even admitted that fictitious names appeared on the list.
“At one point, we were told that 3,500 people had been paid; later, the figure was said to be 500.
“We requested the list of those who had been paid.
“Instead, we were given a list of those yet to be paid, and we still found fictitious names on it.
“We urge the government to clean up the lists to ensure that adequate compensation is paid to legitimate landowners.
“There must be a clearly documented agreement so that future generations will not accuse us of selling out.”he said.
Ukaumunna also alleged that the state government has not disclosed the approved rates per plot of land or for economic crops.
He claimed that some landowners invited to Umuahia were asked to sign indemnity forms without being provided with a clear breakdown of how their compensation was calculated.
In separate remarks, other stakeholders, including Mr. Isaac Ndukwe and Mrs. Ihuoma Ogubunka, expressed frustration over what they described as a persistent lack of transparency.
They called on Governor Alex Otti to closely scrutinise officials handling negotiations with the affected communities.
They added that their inability to farm last year has deepened hardship among families but maintained that they remain open to dialogue—provided discussions are conducted transparently and directly with verified landowners.
Efforts to obtain a response from the Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr. Chaka Chukwumerije, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
However, Insideoutnews gathered that the ministry has intervened in the matter with a view to addressing the concerns raised by the landowners.