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.
