Amnesty calls for halt to Lagos demolitions as 50,000 residents are displaced
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Amnesty International says more than 50,000 people were displaced from Makoko alone between December 2025 and January 2026 and wants Lagos State to stop forced evictions immediately.
Amnesty International has called on the Lagos State Government to halt forced evictions across several communities, saying more than 50,000 residents have been displaced, thousands of homes, schools and health facilities destroyed and at least 42 people killed.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the rights group said about 5,000 homes were destroyed in the most recent operations in Makoko, Oworonshoki and Mile 12, and that research conducted between 12 and 16 October 2026 documented continued demolitions, displacement and rights violations in the affected areas.
Amnesty said residents reported at least 12 deaths in circumstances connected to the demolitions, including incidents it linked to tear gas exposure and structural collapse, while communities in Oworonshoki's Mosafejo and Idiaraba tied more than 30 further deaths to trauma, medical neglect and exposure afterwards.
The group said 42 schools and 20 health clinics were destroyed alongside places of worship, that more than 250 houses were demolished in one part of Mile 12, and that at least 14 residents were arrested and held for about a month after protests in Oworonshoki.
"Since March 2016, Lagos State has been carrying out forced evictions that are clearly aimed at excluding people living in poverty in the process of building what is called a mega Lagos," said Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty International Nigeria. "These are carried out without consultation, adequate notice, or alternative housing."
Amnesty said residents were initially told the exercise would be limited to buildings beneath high-tension electricity lines, but that it extended well beyond those areas. It also said the state disregarded a Federal High Court judgment obtained by affected residents in July 2025 that restrained demolitions in the community.
The settlements named in the findings include Mosafejo, Idiaraba and Precious Seed in Oworonshoki, Makoko Waterfront, Olubori, Ojileru, Coker and Mile 12. Amnesty asked the state to investigate past and recent evictions, provide shelter and compensation where required, and stop treating poor residents as obstacles to urban development.