FAAN seeks to control land encroachment around airports in Nigeria

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), is seeking partnership with various state governments in a bid to stop airports land encroachment by farmers across the nation.

Speaking with journalists in Sokoto at the 15th National Council of Transportation on Tuesday, the Managing Director of FAAN, Saleh Dunoma, lamented that the high rate of encroachment into airports land by farmers across the country was becoming worrisome.

He stated that these lands were not laying waste but were kept as part of the required standard procedure by the authority to avoid cases of aircraft running off the runway due to indiscriminate human activities.

The MD explained that, “We are proposing that lands allocated for the development of airports all over the country be protected. Lands were given initially by States to federal government and FAAN is the custodian of the land and in almost all the states, there are encroachment on these lands.”

According to him, “For the simple reason that airport development takes several years; this gives signal to the general public that there is no development and you know airport operation also requires vast land and some of the lands are supposed to be free and kept like that without development because airport operations requires that and there are standards.

He lamented that, “Lots of people misunderstand that and go to the land to start development and they are encouraged by some states officials to do so.

Saleh said government is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of lives and property around airports in the country.

“So what is important to us is to make sure that such lands are protected in order to meet up with international standards that says that we must have these lands free of development in case an aircraft vies off the runway and gets to that point, there shouldn’t be any issue and to maintain that standard, the lands must be free of obstruction and that is what we are campaigning for.”

He advised state governments to ensure that further allocations are correctly done and also relocate those who have encroached.