Makoko Demolition: Falana Accuses LASG of Violating Law Against Forced Eviction

Popular Lagos-based human rights lawyer, FEMI FALANA, has accused the Lagos State Government of engaging in cruel and inhuman treatment over the demolition of Makoko community and displacement of thousands of families. FEMI FALANA, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, urged the Lagos State Government to recognize that housing is a fundamental right of citizens, which is within the purview of the government to provide. Speaking on a television programme, FALANA accused the Lagos State Government of violating extant laws in the state, which criminalise forced eviction without valid court order. FALANA maintained that "It has to be recognized by the government that the people of Nigeria are entitled to enjoy their right of housing. If people are living in slums, …human beings are living in slums, you cannot tear-gas them in the dead of the night. You cannot move bulldozers there to render them homeless. That is what the law provides for. There are decisions of court on this matter." With reference to past demolitions of residential communities in Lagos State by successive administrations, FALANA observed that: “What the regimes have done, I mean military and civilian regimes, is to wage a war against the people. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said while nobody is opposed to urban development, or urban renewal programme, the Lagos State Government "must take cognizance of the poor and vulnerable segments of the society, and then create alternative houses for them, so that you do not displace them and render them homeless.”