Global rights group, Amnesty International, and a Nigerian non-governmental organisation, on Monday, urged the Lagos State Government to respect the rights of over 9,000 residents that were evicted from the Badia East area of the state.
The groups made this call in Lagos at the presentation of their joint report on the “forced eviction” of the residents from the area on February 23, 2013.
In the 66-page report, the groups said the eviction violated the Nigerian laws and all international laws and standards for evicting residents.
The groups, among other demands, called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to “publicly commit himself to stopping forced evictions in the state” while urging the state government to resettle the evicted residents and pay them adequate compensation for their destroyed properties.
Amnesty International’s Researcher, West Africa/Africa Programme, Oluwatosin Popoola, said, “There was no genuine consultation with the people before the forced eviction. Amnesty International and SERAC discovered that the Lagos State Government failed to provide alternative housing for the people.
“Lagos prides itself as the centre of excellence but it is as if the excellence is not being put into practice. Lagos State Government must respect the rights of the citizens.”
SERAC’s Executive Director, Felix Morka, who also called on government to desist from further demolition of the remaining parts of Badia East, which could render a total of 50,000 residents homeless, said Lagos Government had only seized the land, which still belonged to the Federal Government, from the people.
He said, “It is not all about evicting to achieve development. It is about how you organise the process to achieve development. How do you treat the people who are the subject of the development.”
Meanwhile, the state government, through its Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, has since denied the allegations of forced eviction.
Ipaye stated in a letter to the Amnesty International, dated May 4, 2013, that a state delegation had twice visited the community imploring the dwellers to move away, “especially in view of the security, health and flooding risks posed to the entire area by their activities”.
Culled: Punchng