Amnesty International Urges Lagos Government To End Forced Evictions In State
Global rights group, Amnesty International, has called on
the Lagos State Government to immediately halt the violent and unlawful
evictions that rendered thousands of residents of Tarkwa Bay, a waterfront
community in Lagos, homeless.
On January 21 at about 8:00am, personnel of the Nigerian
Navy resorted to assault and shooting during the evictions at Tarkwa Bay.
The authorities continued with the forced evictions the next
day, in what appears to be a brazen disregard for the safety and security of
the affected people, as well as their rights to housing among others.
“What is happening at Tarkwa Bay, Lagos is a violation of
human government rights.
"It is unacceptable that the Nigerian Government are
evicting people in the most violent manner and destroying their homes without
genuine consultations, adequate notice, alternative accommodation or access to
remedies,” said Osai Ojigho, Director Amnesty International Nigeria.
“The attacks on poor communities of Lagos must end. Throwing
many families into endless misery is not the best way of addressing allegations
of crime and urban planning failures of the authorities. We call for a halt to
ongoing forced evictions,” she added.
Spate of unlawful evictions in Lagos have surged since last.
For example, in November 2019, nearly 1500 residents of
Second Badagry community in Lagos were forcibly evicted.
Similarly, on January 4, 2020, about 3000 residents of Okun
Glass Village, Ilaase, were violently evicted by personnel of the Nigerian
Navy.
Several other informal communities in Lagos live with
perpetual threats of forced evictions.
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