Halt planned ‘forced eviction’ of residents, Amnesty tells Lagos govt

Amnesty International yesterday called on the Nigerian authorities to immediately withdraw the 21-day ultimatum given to residents of waterfront communities in Oworonshoki. 

The ultimatum, it said, was issued by the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), asking the residents to vacate their homes or be forcefully evicted over alleged contravention of the NIWA Act. 

“This fresh threat of forced eviction violates the right to adequate housing of the communities. NIWA and the Lagos authorities must halt these attacks on poor communities that are punished for the state’s urban planning failures,” said the Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi. 

“The trend in which Lagos authorities forcibly evict communities and hand over the land to private developers will only create a mega city that excludes the poor,” he added.

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 Amnesty recalled that the Lagos State government has been consistently violating the right to adequate housing – and in some cases doing so with utter disregard for court orders. 

The human rights organisation, however, stated that NIWA and the Lagos State government “Have an obligation to comply with international human rights law, which completely prohibits forced evictions.”