Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola

Lagosians demand right to housing.

With a rally to mark the World Human Rights Day, the Lagos Marginalised Communities Forum has protested what it termed ‘the unlawful eviction of the poor slum dwellers to sell land to the rich,’ by the Lagos State government.

At the event, which was organised by LAMCOFOR in conjunction with the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre, the residents of the slums asked questions about their fundamental human rights and were enlightened by legal practitioners.

The leaders of the LAMCOFOR reeled out various cases of forceful eviction of communities without compensation or resettlement which included Egun-Bariga, Orile-Agege and Makoko,

Members of the Ikota Estate and Lekki communities at the event also said they were faced with threats of eviction.

The treasurer of LAMCOFOR, Ephraim Atiyeye, said the group was not averse to development but was only demanding that every eviction by the state government should be done with respect to fundamental human rights, which include right to housing.

The representative of the Executive Director of SERAC and a staff attorney at the organisation, Emmanuel Nwaghodoh, said the major hindrance to the work of defending the human rights of these communities, was the imperfection of the 1999 Constitution and the fact that Nigeria had yet to ratify and domesticate the Convention on Social and Economic Rights.

Also to mark the human rights day, the European Union High Representative, Catherine Aston, has praised human rights defenders across the globe and highlighted the role of social media, with reference to the Arab spring.

In a statement sent to the media, Aston said, "The Arab spring vividly reminds us that human rights are universal and that people everywhere aspire to live in dignity and freedom. In 2011, thousands of people decided that the time had come to claim their rights.