Cargo airport: Ekiti pays N500m compensation to 700 land owners

Ekiti State government has paid compensation to the tune of N500 million to 700 land owners whose lands were acquired for the state’s Agro-allied Cargo Airport project.

The affected land owners, mainly farmers, were presented with cheques of varying sums by Dr Kayode Fayemi at the conference hall of the Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti.

Governor Fayemi said a total 4,017 hectares of land was acquired for the airport project, adding that his administration’s infrastructure and industrial development agenda was aimed at connecting the state’s agribusiness industry to global market through an agro-allied cargo airport.

The governor thanked traditional rulers in the affected areas for amicably resolving any communal conflicts that would have arisen from the initial challenges encountered during the enumeration of crops on the acquired land.

Commending the affected land owners and communities for their support and cooperation with government officials during the enumeration exercise, Fayemi further solicited for their continued support and cooperation to ensure that the project, which is capable of generating thousands of jobs for teeming unemployed youth, is completed on time and without hindrance.

Governor Fayemi said: “The next 15 months will be crucial for this project and as we all know, it is only in an atmosphere of peace and harmony that meaningful development can take place. It is imperative therefore that you shun any act capable of disturbing the prevailing atmosphere of peace and harmony in the project site and the state as a whole”.