Amnesty International joined netizens on Sunday to condemn Lagos State Government led by Akinwunmi Ambode over continued demolition of Otodo Gbame, a waterfront community in the state.
According to some of the vicitms who spoke with TheNewsGuru.com under condition of anonymity, task force officials from the Environment Ministry reportedly invaded the community as early as 6am with security operatives and proceeded to set houses ablaze as resident fled.
On Twitter, Amnesty International Nigeria joined those tweeting about incident, #OtodoGbame, which is already gaining momentum on Twitter trend.
Govt of Lagos is currently using violence in displacing the already traumatised residents of #OtodoGbame. This is clear violation of rights
Advertisement— Amnesty Int. Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) April 9, 2017
3. #OtodoGbame is a waterfront fishing community that politicians visited with smiles during elections. In return, they got homelessness.
— Amnesty Int. Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) April 8, 2017
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Recall the Lagos State government had come under heavy criticism on March 17 when it commenced the demolition of the waterfront community.
The kids in #Lagos slums are d brightest, most promising I’ve ever seen. Now @AkinwunmiAmbode is killing ds futures one demolition @ a time! pic.twitter.com/vQLhsDOLnO
— Betty Abah (@bettyabah) March 27, 2017
Amnesty International had in a statement condemned the move, saying the demolition was illegal and brutal.
@AkinwunmiAmbode should come clean on this #OtodoGbame matter – are you serving elite interests or that of the masses who voted you?
— Demola Olarewaju (@DemolaRewaju) April 9, 2017
“This brutal and illegal act flies in the face of human dignity as well as a High Court Ruling that prohibited the eviction taking place and instructed the authorities to instead seek a settlement with the affected communities,” AI’s Nigeria researcher, Morayo Adebayo, said.
But the state government defended the move, saying action was carried out in order to forestall an environmental disaster and another round of deadly skirmishes that led to the razing of the Otodo Gbame community in November 2016.
More reactions from netizens…