Residents lament non-compensation for construction of power line

Residents of communities in Lafia and Karu local government areas of Nasarawa State have expressed worry over the refusal of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to compensate them for their lands marked for the construction of a 330kv transmission line.

The transmission line is being constructed under the Abuja Power Feeding Scheme Project from Lafia to Pigba-Apo in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

• PODCAST: ‘Tanker Drivers To Face The Music Over Road Crashes’
• How Nigerian diplomat was brutalised and treated like a criminal in Indonesia

Speaking with Daily Trust on Monday, Obinna Ogbunyiba, who resides in Banda community in Karu LGA, said he had not been compensated for his two plots of land which were marked for the project.

Ogbunyiba said the only way he would allow his land to be used for the project was when the company compensated him

He lamented that, “This is the only asset I have, and I don’t have any other land. I use this land to farm and feed my family. So if collect, where does the company want me to get another land?

“The company said it will pay me N25,000 for the two plots, but where on earth will one use N25,000 to buy five hectares.”

He, therefore, appealed to the state government to urgently intervene in the matter before it degenerated into a land dispute.

Also speaking to our correspondent, Emmanuel Nwakauma, a resident of Fountain City, whose 40 plots in Banda, New Karu are affected, said he would not release his lands unless he was compensated based on the current value of land.

Mr Nwakauma who said his land had Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), alleged that the company had paid compensation to selected individuals.

Reacting on the issues in an interview with our correspondent shortly after a stakeholders’ engagement with landowners, the Environmental Supervisor of TCN, Zainab Aliyu, appealed to the affected persons to remain calm, promising that the company would do everything possible and pay.

Aliyu who said TCN was working in collaboration with the Government of France on the project, explained that if the project was completed it would go a long way in boosting socio-economic activities of both Nasarawa and the FCT.