Satellite images prove forced evictions that left 9,000 homeless in Nigeria
Images captured by satellites are evidence of mass forced evictions that have taken place in Lagos in Nigeria, says a new report from Amnesty International and the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC).
Demolitions in Badia East, an area of Lagos, took place on 23 February this year, and satellite photos from before and after reveal that a densely populated residential area the government claimed was a rubbish dump was completely destroyed.
Concrete houses and structures that were home to around 9,000 people were entirely razed to the ground to allow the government to "redevelop" the area. Residents claimed they were given no notice of the evictions taking place, and were informed only as armed police and bulldozers arrived. Not only were homes destroyed, but businesses too, leaving many with no livelihood. Many are still sleeping out in the open and under a nearby bridge.
The Lagos state government has not been consistent in its responses to Amnesty International after the organisation challenged it about forcing people to leave their homes. While the Lagos state Attorney-General acknowledged that it was a residential area, the Lagos State Commissioner for Housing wrote the demolition area off as a rubbish dump.
"There's been quite a lot of housing evictions [in Nigeria] for quite some time. Over whether there are widespread forced evictions, there isn't any doubt," Meghna Abraham, a senior reasearch advisor for Amnesty International, tells Wired.co.uk.
Amnesty International USA regularly uses satellites to monitor human rights all over the world, and recently announced the devastating impact of war on the city of Aleppo in Syria. For the project in Nigeria, images were taken from the satellites andanalytics agency DigitalGlobe was commissioned to examine them for evidence of evictions. The first photograph, taken on 8 February 2013, shows an area filled with many high-density structures, whereas the second photo taken of the same area on 8 April reveals it to be completely flat.
The study builds upon research previously done by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, documenting the extent of the evictions and impact on residents' lives. Forced evictions are banned under almost all international human rights treaties, but there is no such law in Nigeria. "This is one of the reasons we did this," says Abrahams, "it's really to illustrate the failures." Amnesty International is imploring the Nigerian government to impose a moratorium on mass evictions until it formally adopts legislation that reflects international law.
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