News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

Nigeria: Mass forced evictions in Lagos must stop

AI Index: AFR 44/034/2003 (Public)
31 October 2003

Amnesty International calls on the Lagos State government to stop any
further evictions of residents from the Ijora-Badiya area on the outskirts
of Lagos city.

"The community's right to housing and to a fair hearing and due process
must be respected," the organization urged today.

Recent mass evictions of residents from the Ijora-Badiya area have affected
more than 5,000 people and there is fear that the total number of people
affected could rise further, if the evictions resume. The estimated number
of houses destroyed is 35-40% of the community.

The community was given 48 hours notice to leave their homes by the Lagos
State Government on 16 October, without the court order for evictions
required by law. According to government, the area needed to be "cleaned
up" because it is regarded as having become a haven for prostitution and
robbery.

Forced evictions started on 19 October and stopped temporarily in the
afternoon on Monday 27 October. They have reportedly not resumed yet. The
evictions took place despite the fact that the community reportedly had
legal title to the area given to them by the Federal Government as
compensation for having been previously moved from another area in Lagos.
Some of the people concerned are also legal tenants of land owned by the
Railway Corporation.

"The illegal forced evictions in Ijora-Badiya violate the right to adequate
housing as a component of the right to standard of living, including the
right to adequate housing, as recognised in Article 11.1 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to
which Nigeria is a state party.

The evictions also violate the right to due process, as stated in the 1999
Constitution of Nigeria, and which is recognised in international human
rights standards, including Article 14 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Nigeria is a state party. It
is also a violation of the right to protection against unlawful
interference with privacy, family and home as recognised in Article 17 of
the ICCPR.

Amnesty International is concerned over the arbitrary detention of Debo
William Ilurimi and Benson Ojutiwon, residents of the Ijora-Badiya area and
others who may have been detained in connection with the forced evictions.

"Those detained should be promptly charged with a recognisable criminal
offence and brought to trial in accordance with international standards or
be released without delay. Any further arbitrary arrest or detention
violates the fundamental human rights of an individual as stated in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," Amnesty
International added.

Background

The evictions were carried out by the Lagos Special Task Force on
Environment and Special Offences Unit backed by the police force despite a
pending application in court for an injunction to stop the plans, lodged by
the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre, a Nigerian human rights
organization.

During the evictions, two men, Debo William Ilurimi and Benson Ojutiwon
were arbitrarily arrested on 20 October by the special police force when
they were trying to prevent their homes from being demolished in the area
of Ijora-Badiya. They were detained without charge in the Alausa police
station in Lagos, and released on bail on the 24 October. One of the men,
Debo William Ilurimi, sustained injuries to his right eye during the
arrest, as reported by The Social and Economic Rights Action Centre, Lagos,
Nigeria.

The recent evictions should be seen in the light of a previous and similar
case. In July 2000, the community of Rainbow Town in Port Harcourt, Rivers
state, was levelled to the ground by bulldozers sent by the state
government while armed police stood guard. The estimated number of people
affected is near to 1 million. The government stated the reason for the
evictions as "urban renewal". It had no plans for resettlement or
compensation for the victims. Furthermore, the evictions took place despite
cases pending in the courts against them, thereby contravening the
provisions of fair hearing and due process as spelt out in the 1999
Constitution.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in its General
Comment number 7, defines forced evictions as "the permanent or temporary
removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from
their homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and
access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection".

All AI documents on Nigeria:
http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabCeFaa1LlObdxUCdb/

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