LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Amnesty International says as many as 30,000 people in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos are homeless after their community was set ablaze and demolished this week.
FILE – In this Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 file photo fires burn in the makeshift migrant camp known as “the jungle” near Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Crews have started dismantling the squalid migrant camp in France after the process to clear the camp began in earnest on Monday. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
It was not immediately clear how the fire began in the Otodo Gbame community, but residents told the London-based rights group that police officers blocked them from trying to put it out. They said police then returned with a demolition team.
Residents salvage objects from the demolished houses that were set ablaze by government officials in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, Amnesty International says as many as 30,000 people in Nigeria’s commercial capital are homeless after their community was set ablaze and demolished this week. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Lagos officials have warned that makeshift waterfront settlements pose a “security threat” and must be razed, a process that could affect hundreds of thousands of people.
A woman walks past demolished houses that were set ablaze by government officials in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, Amnesty International says as many as 30,000 people in Nigeria’s commercial capital are homeless after their community was set ablaze and demolished this week. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
However, Amnesty International said a Lagos court on Monday granted an interim injunction against demolitions in communities, including Otodo Gbame.
Lagos officials were not reachable for comment. Amnesty International said those made homeless should be given alternative accommodation.