By Ishaya Ibrahim
The forceful displacement of two communities – Ayetoro and Okobaba by the Lagos State Government between September 15 and 17, has left thousands of Nigerians stranded.
Some of the affected community members recounted during a community consultation with the evictees that they were in their places of business when officials of the Lagos State Government along with police operatives demolished their homes with fire and bulldozers.
The consultation, facilitated by a non-governmental organization, CEE-HOPE held at the Dr. Nnimmo Bassey Conference Hall of the Corporate Accountability Participation Africa (CAPPA) at Ogba. The event witnessed emotional narratives from community members who were displaced by the brutal demolition exercise in which their houses were razed down without notice early in the morning.
The operation went on for two days, unable to retrieve most of their personal belongings, food items, business wares and cash amongst others. They say they are now totally stranded as the demolition displaced about 5,000 persons including women and children already rendered vulnerable by the current economic depression in the country.
Many of the affected children are involved in various CEE-HOPE program at the community centre at Makoko including educational, skills and mentorship initiatives.
Also, many of the narrators who lost everything to the eviction are still sleeping outside, especially evictees from Okobaba community. One of the narrators, overwhelmed by emotions, wept as he narrated how a neighbour’s dog, chained inside, was burned to death together with the house.
Speakers at the event include Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability Participation Africa (CAPPA), Comrade Gbenga Komolafe, General Secretary of the Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON), Comrade Hassan Soweto of Education Rights Campaign and Comrade Lekan Shoneye of the Take It Back Movement and Dr. Gideon Adeyeni from CAPPA, a researcher who has worked on adequate housing and is an advocate for the right to housing.
Other speakers include Ambassador Willie Workman Oga, founder of Kreative Arts Foundation for Community Engagement (KAfcOmE) and Miriam Ginika, a women’s rights advocate and founder of the Restoring Women and Girls’ Education Initiative (ROWGLE).
They noted that as has become the pattern of forced evictions in Lagos over the years, the recent exercises lacked adherence to laid down rules of adequate notice, compensation and relocation plan, decrying the constant assault on the urban poor by the government rather than focus on policies that would ameliorate their socioeconomic plights or work on provision of social housing in light of the reality of acute housing crisis in the state and by extension, in the country. They also recommended the need for advocacy for a sustained system that prevents the recurring decimal of forced evictions in the state.
The meeting was the fourth of CEE-HOPE’s engagements with persons impacted by the demolitions and its relief outings which has held twice.
The one-day event was coordinated by Betty Abah, founder of CEE-HOPE