Forced evictions hit 9,000 in
Lagos – Amnesty report on August 12, 2013 at 2:43 pm
in News LAGOS (AFP) – Forced evictions
in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos,
have cost around 9,000 people
their homes or livelihoods,
Amnesty International and a
local rights group said in a report Monday. Tens of thousands more could
be at risk if the government
proceeds with plans to
redevelop the slum area of
Badia East, said the report,
issued jointly with the Social and Economic Rights Action
Centre (SERAC). Residents said armed police
and bulldozers moved in
without warning in February,
forcing them out, in what the
government has termed the
first phase of its clearance plan. “The effects of February’s
forced eviction have been
devastating for the Badia East
community where dozens are
still sleeping out in the open or
under a nearby bridge exposed to rain, mosquitos and at risk
of physical attack,” said
Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty
International’s Nigeria
researcher. The report calls on Lagos
authorities to halt the forced
evictions, aimed at bringing
order to the chaotic and
crowded metropolis which is
home to 15 million people. “It is estimated that close to
9,000 residents of Badia East
lost their homes or livelihoods,”
said a statement on the report. “If these plans proceed as
described, tens of thousands
will be at risk of forced eviction
and face possible destitution.”