By Tunde Johnson
Amnesty International (AI) has called on the Federal Government to issue a moratorium on mass evictions placed by Lagos State Government until adequate legal and procedural safeguards are issued on the forced evictions of Otodo Gbame and Ilubirin communities of the state.
In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, with a copy made available to newsmen on Monday, AI also called on the Presidency to issue a directive on an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the forced evictions, particularly with regards to the roles played by the Nigeria Police.
The letter noted that on October 9th, Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State , during his visit to Ilubirin community stated that all shanties in Lagos waterfronts will be demolished, adding that those responsible for human rights violations, including those with command responsibility must be brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.
Amnesty International noted that there are several informal settlements in Lagos waterfronts and they are some of the most densely populated areas of the city.
The letter reads: ‘’Please allow me to inform you about recent activities of our Amnesty International group 1190, Germany. We have written letters on human rights concerns to authorities in Brazil, Chad, Tajikistan Poland, Israel, Cuba, Morocco, Malaysia, Mazambique, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Honduras.
‘’Now I would like to bring to your kind attention my deep concerns about forced evictions Lagos State authorities have forcibly evicted at least 50,000 people since 2013, including over 30,000 people forcibly evicted from Ilubirn and Otodo-Gbame waterfront communities.
‘’The forced evictions in Otodo-Gbame and Ilubirin followed the state Governor’s 9 October 2016 announcement that authorities would demolish all structures in informal settlements along the state’s waterfronts and creeks, to address security concerns, There are at least 40 such settlements, home to at least 300,000 people, 11 people were unlawfully killed and at least 17 people were missing.
‘’More than 300,000 people remain at risk of forced eviction in Lagos state Many of these communities are already marginalized and have lived for years without access to clean water, sanitation, adequate health care or education.
‘’In 2013 the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, estimated that over 70 per cent of Lagos population lived in informal settlements. In 2014, the Lagos State Bureau of Statistics estimated that Lagos had a population of 23.3 million with an annual growth rate of 3.2 per cent.
Amnesty International said informal settlements are prone to evictions because they occupy land which is increasingly becoming targeted for high value property development projects by state and non-state actors.
‘’Evictions can be lawful when conducted in accordance with international human rights laws and standards, forced evictions occur when states fail to comply with these standards.
‘’The forced evictions in Otodo-Gbame and Ilubirin followed the state Governor’s 9 October 2016 announcement that authorities would demolish all structures in informal settlements along the state’s waterfronts and creeks, to address security concerns, There are at least 40 such settlements, home to at least 300,000 people, 11 people were unlawfully killed and at least 17 people were missing.
‘’The agency further estimated that about 67 per cent of this population lived below the poverty line of US$1 a day.’’