lmo State government said it has paid out a total of N280 million to the people of Ngor Okpalla Local Government Area of the state for 2,000 hectares of land the government has acquired to build a free trade zone (FTZ), which would be the first in the South-East geopolitical zone.
Uche Nwosu, the Commissioner for Lands and Survey, while addressing the apex leaders and elders of Ngor Okpalla in his office in Owerri, disclosed that Imo
State intends to replicate what Calabar (in Cross River State) did in 2001, by pioneering the first free trade zone scheme in Nigeria.
Today, the premier FTZ has attracted investments in excess of N50 billion, with 78 companies registered at the business enclave, engaged in manufacturing, trading, provision of services and oil and gas related activities.
These companies benefit from special tax rules and duty-free imports; and have created thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
The commissioner said the latest payment brings to almost N280 million the total amount paid out to the people of Ngor Okpalla as compensation for the free trade zone project.
The villages whose lands are involved are Eziama, Itu, Lem and other lkem communities.
Nwosu said the state government has already entered into high level discussions with developers, whom he said, “have the finance and are ready to move into the FTZ area soon.”
He informed that when the project starts, it would create massive employment for the people, which would in turn make the young people to move away from social vices.
He said the project is intended to skyrocket Ngor Okpalla, a local government with the largest land mass in the state, to become an attractive investment destination for the international communities.
“It is not a project that would limit Ngor Okpalla to only lmo, but to other states of the country and outside the country,” he said.
Nwosu hinted that if the FTZ project picks up well, it would soon transform Ngor Okpalla from a backwater to the likes of Dubai and Japan in future. With the incoming of the FTZ project there will be electricity and good roads, noted the commissioner.
The Lands and Survey commissioner also commended the elders, community leaders, traditional rulers and Ngor Okpalla people for giving out their lands for a laudable landmark project that will bring industrial and allied development to the state; adding that some other localities in state have made it difficult for government to acquire their land for development projects.
BEN EGUZOZIE & VICTORIA NNAKAIKE
