TELL Magazine

Landowners around the NTA Zonal Office and the Institute of Management and Technology in Enugu have expressed fears that the state government might be compulsorily acquiring their land without resorting to them.

This followed the clearing of the large expanse of land in the area during the week.

But the Enugu State Government has come out to allay the fears of the landowners, saying that their lands were safe.

In a statement from Government House on Thursday, the Commissioner for Information, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, said the state government intended to use the area to keep vehicles impounded from violators of Covid-19 protocol violators.

Aroh said, “The area being cleared is solely for temporary use/holding area of the state’s committee on enforcement of inter-state movement restrictions for the containment of the spread of COVID-19, for safe keeping of violating vehicles seized in the course of its duty.”

He added that the government or any of its agencies had no intention to forcefully or compulsorily acquire any parcel of land aforementioned for any reason whatsoever.

“The state government, therefore, wishes to reassure all landowners in and around the aforementioned area and indeed the entire state residents of the commitment to protect the rights of Ndi-Enugu and all Nigerians to acquire and own property legitimately in Enugu State,” he said.