The Lagos government forcibly evicted about 9,000 people in a slum area in the commercial capital in February, demolishing their homes without prior notice or providing alternative accommodation, Amnesty International said.
Satellite images of Badia East show that concrete houses and other structures were destroyed in the Feb. 23 demolitions, the London-based human rights group said in an e-mailed report today, citing witnesses. Senior officials in the Lagos state government said the slum was a rubbish dump, it said.
Lagos, with 21 million people, is the most densely-populated of the 36 states in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. About 70 percent of the inhabitants of Lagos live in slums, according to Amnesty. The West African nation is Africa’s largest oil producer.
The report, compiled by Amnesty and Lagos-based Social and Economic Rights Action Centre, cites former residents from Badia East as saying armed police officers threatened to shoot them if they didn’t move.
Phone calls made to the office of Hakeem Bello, the special adviser on media for the Lagos state government, didn’t connect, while two e-mailed inquiries sent to the state government weren’t answered. Ngozi Braide, a spokeswoman for Lagos police, was unavailable when contacted for comment.
Infrastructure Program
The evictions are part of a pattern of forced removals of residents in informal settlements since the 1990s across Lagos, including in Badia, Makoko and Ilaje Otumara, according to the report.
“The Lagos state government has failed to consult people to explore alternatives to the eviction, provide adequate notice, legal remedies, compensation and adequate alternative housing,” it said.
Lagos state Governor Babatunde Fashola is pushing to build infrastructure, including an urban rail system and bridges, to lure investors and cater for an expanding population. On Aug. 1, he told slum residents in Badia he was building 1,008 apartments to rehouse them.
“The state government will empower and give all residents of blighted areas a chance to live a prosperous life,” he said.