Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Festus Keyamo, his counterpart in the ministry responsible for the development of aviation and aerospace, have spoken with residents of the Jiwa neighborhood in Abuja.
Wike announced N825.819 million as compensation for Jiwa natives for the construction of the 4.2 km second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport after the meeting, which was also attended by officials of both ministries and representatives of their agencies.
The N825.8 million, according to the former governor of Rivers, is intended to encourage the community’s residents to leave and to enlist their assistance in completing the project’s 4.2 km second Abuja runway, which was originally given the go-ahead in 2022.
In addition, Wike announced that the FCT would build a 5 km bridge in the community of Tunga Madaki and a cutting-edge medical facility that would be used as a temporary resettlement site for the locals.
The FCT minister also instructed the contractors to pick up where they left off while assuring them that the approved funds would be released on Wednesday.
According to Gistlover, the Jiwa community had earlier begun talks with the Federal Government and was seeking N2.5 million per hectare in compensation.
Keyamo said he and Wike held a peaceful resolution regarding the compensation and related issues that delayed the start of the construction of the second runway at the Abuja International Airport in a tweet on Wednesday.
He said: “Yesterday, my colleague in the FCT Ministry, his Minister of State and I met with the Sarki of Jiwa and representatives of the community within the FCT and peacefully resolved the issues of compensation and ancillary matters that hindered the commencement of the construction of the second runway at the Abuja International Airport.
“We announced the full package of compensation by the FG, which they accepted. The contractors are expected to immediately mobilise to the site.”
