Air Peace, Anambra community clash over N100m land

Anambra map

Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, and the Umueri community in the Anambra East Local Government Area have been locked in a war of words over the ownership and payment for land allocated for a proposed Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility at the Chinua Achebe International Cargo Airport.

The dispute arises from claims circulating on social media alleging that Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema, paid N100m to the Umueri community for the land, a claim the community has vehemently refutted.

While the airline maintained that its chairman indeed paid N100m for the property in question, it clarified that the payment was made to the Anambra State Government, not the community.

It will be recalled that the airline laid the foundation for a N32 bn MRO facility at the Lagos airport in August.

According to the Vanguard Newspaper’s report of the development on Tuesday, the Umueri community issued a statement titled ‘Umueri Community Sets the Record Straight,’ in which its traditional ruler, Igwe Bennett Emeka, dismissed the reports as false and misleading.

“The false claims allege that Chief Onyema decided to site his N32 bn MRO facility in Lagos because the local community refused to provide land for the project, even after he had paid them N100m for that purpose.

The Umueri community categorically states that these claims are false and misleading, the monarch was quoted have said.

He explained that Chief Onyema’s application for land to build an MRO facility at the airport was approved by the then governor, Chief Willie Obiano, who also allocated another portion of land to the Nigerian Air Force.

The monarch emphasised that the Umueri community neither allocated land to nor received any payment from the Air Peace chairman.

“It is not true that Chief Onyema paid the Umueri community N100 m. We never allocated any land to him. The Anambra State Government did. We, therefore, could not have demanded or received any payment from him,” he said.