A series of brutal, government-ordered evictions that left more than 30,000 Nigerians homeless were deemed “unconstitutional” in a landmark decision by the Lagos High Court on Wednesday, activists said.
The judge ordered a stop to future evictions in a move that could prevent an estimated 270,000 other residents of Lagos from losing their prime waterfront homes to development.
The court case against the government – launched by the Lagos-based human rights organisation Justice and Empowerment Initiative (JEI) – was run on behalf of dozens of waterfront communities throughout Lagos state.
“People were dancing in the streets afterward. The judge began reading his lengthy ruling at about 11:30 a.m. and finished around midday,” Megan Chapman, JEI co-executive director, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.
Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo…
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