Landowners in Olympic Layout, Enugu State, have cried out that their hope of owning property in the state is about to be dashed by an alleged “obnoxious” “infrastructure development” fee being placed on them by the State Geographic Information Systems Services (ENGIS).

They stated that many of them would lose their property, which they acquired several years ago, should the agency go ahead to implement the fees and therefore urged Governor Peter Mbah to intervene.

They stated that they had bought, built, and occupied the area for some time, until in March this year, when the agency directed all landowners in the layout to forward their title documents with a fee of N100,000 for verification and regularization.

“We were given only one week to do so. Over 90 percent of the landowners struggled to meet with the payment, as many used the school fees of their children to pay in order to beat the deadline,” they said.

They added that while waiting for the outcome of the verification exercise, the agency again wrote landlords of the layout, asking for a further payment to enable the state government to develop and improve infrastructure in the area or face sanctions on the property.

The letter, which was dated 15th April 2025 and captioned “Notice to partner with private Association, Communities and Estate layout owners in the new government policies on Infrastructural Development,” was signed by the agency’s Managing Director, Chiwetalu Nwatu.

It had directed the landowners “to pay the sum of five million naira for every 500 square meters as infrastructure levy and N4000 for 1 square meter for C of O, amounting to N2,000,000.00 for a 500-square meter plot of land.”

Nwatu’s letter, which announced the commencement date for the payment from 20th April this year, stressed that such payment would elapse by October 2025 and that “non-payment may attract further sanctions on the property.”

Nwatu, however, assured the landowners that “with the promise of our governor to execute a minimum of one thousand kilometers of paved road every year, you will be given consideration for other roads based on your collaboration with the government.”

The landowners, however, stated that the offer by the state government would amount to seven million naira for a plot of land measuring 500 sq meters.

They stated that 95% of the landowners in Olympic Layout are either retired civil/public servants who managed to squeeze out of their meager income to acquire property, or petty businessmen and women who saved to buy the property to put a shelter over the head of their families.

They therefore asked Governor Mbah to intervene, stressing that “all our hopes are being dashed by this obnoxious levy imposed on us by ENGIS. So many will lose their lifetime investment if the agency goes ahead to enforce this levy.”

“We prayerfully beg Your Excellency, as a listening Governor, to save us and persuade ENGIS to reconsider the imposition of the huge levy on us due to prevailing economic challenges people are facing. Many cannot pay school fees for their children, pay hospital bills for their sick ones, or even feed two square meals per day.”