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Nigeria: Thousands forcibly evicted in Port Harcourt
Thousands of people are at risk of forced eviction in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt. The security forces began demolishing their homes on 27 June. Nearly 300 homes have been demolished and hundreds of people have been made homeless.
An estimated 30,000 people will be forcibly evicted and their houses demolished by the Rivers State government if the present demolitions continue. The state Joint Task Force (JTF), made up of police and soldiers, is leading the demolition of Abonnema Wharf waterfront in Port Harcourt. The residents received no written or verbal notice and were offered no alternative housing. Compensation payments are being made, but many property owners have not received them. Tenants do not receive any compensation. Hundreds of people will be left homeless if the demolitions continue. According to the Rivers State government Commissioner of Urban Development, state governor Rotimi Amaechi ordered the JTF to demolish the houses "for security reasons".
The Rivers State government has not followed due process. They did not tell the community the reasons for the demolitions, but the Commissioner of Urban Development told Amnesty International that they were carried out "to protect residents". The authorities told Amnesty International that there had been shootouts between rival gangs operating in the area in June, and the demolitions were intended to prevent more gang fighting. The demolitions are taking place despite the government telling landlords and property owners in a meeting on 17 May that their houses would not be demolished until they had received full compensation and enough time to relocate.
However, on 27 June, hundreds of people were left homeless and according to eyewitnesses many were forced to sleep either on the streets, or with friends and relatives in the remaining buildings. The JTF carried out mass arrests of residents before and during the demolitions. Scores of them have already been released. Local NGOs in Port Harcourt believe the demolition will continue.
Update
Thousands of people in Abonnema Wharf have been forcibly evicted from their homes and many are in urgent need of emergency housing and relief services after the Rivers State authorities demolished their homes in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. After five days of demolitions in Abonnema Wharf waterfront in Port Harcourt, thousands of people have been forcibly evicted and many left homeless by the demolitions of the Rivers State authorities in Nigeria. Many people are being forced to sleep outside on the street, in cars or shelter in nearby churches, and are vulnerable to further human rights violations. Many residents did not know their homes would be demolished until the bulldozers arrived. They were not given time to collect their belongings and many people lost everything. Initial statements by the Rivers State government (RSG) suggested only those buildings implicated in gang shootouts earlier in June would be demolished. Consequently, many people living in other areas of the community did not think their houses would be affected and did not attempt to pack their belongings until it was too late. However, the demolitions continued until the entire community was razed. Residents were not offered any alternative housing or even emergency shelter. The demolitions were carried out during rainy season when the weather conditions are bad and it's difficult for people to move easily around to find shelter.
The exact number of people who were living in Abonnema Wharf is not known, as no survey has been carried out, but in 2009 it was estimated by UN Habitat (Evictions and Demolitions in Port Harcourt, Fact Finding Mission Report, March 2009) to be more than 30,000 people. It is reported that many people had left the community since 2009. According to one estimate, between 10,000 and 20,000 have been forcibly evicted. There are indications that the government is planning further demolitions in the waterfronts.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY. Urge the authorities
* to provide temporary housing immediately to the people of Port Harcourt whose homes have been destroyed and who are currently homeless, and to provide them with emergency relief, including access to food, shelter, water, sanitation and health care services,
* to ensure that all those already evicted from Abonnema Wharf receive adequate alternative housing and compensation for all losses and suffering,
* to adopt a moratorium on all evictions and demolitions in the waterfronts as well as putting all necessary safeguards in place to prevent further forced evictions, and to ensure that any evictions comply with national law, as well as regional and international human rights standards,
* to order a full and independent investigation, and review the role of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in assisting the demolitions, ensuring that police and soldiers are not ordered to assist in illegal evictions.
DIRECT YOUR Messages TO:
Governor of Rivers State:
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi
Office of the Governor
Government House
Port Harcourt
Rivers State, Nigeria
Twitter: Create your own or use this one:
@ChibuikeAmaechi Stop the forced evictions in Abonnema Wharf Community, Port Harcourt
Salutation: Your Excellency
High Commission for Nigeria
295 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1R9
Tel: (613) 236 0521 then choose option 7 and leave a message
Fax: (613) 236-0529
Email via website: http://www.nigeriahcottawa.com/nhc/contactus.html
(There is no Acting High Commissioner at the moment, and the new High Commissioner has yet to arrive.) Ask the staff to share your message with Federal Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Ms Ama Pepple and with the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission Professor Bem Angwe.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State, is in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta. In July 2008, the state governor announced plans to demolish all waterfront settlements in the city as part of a program of "urban renewal". The waterfront settlements, about 40 in all, are built on reclaimed land along the city's shoreline, and are home to an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 people.
Abonnema Wharf has an estimated population of over 30,000 people. It is close to oil companies' petroleum tank storage areas. It is also home to people forced to leave the neighbouring Njemanze community, which was demolished in 2009. Many of the residents work for government institutions and agencies. However, the state governor told a press conference in Port Harcourt on 28 October 2011 that 80% of the population of waterfront communities such as Abonnema Wharf were criminals. He has since threatened demolition several times. In November 2011, a Rivers State High Court issued an injunction against the Rivers State Government, ruling that they should not carry out demolitions and evictions in Abonnema Wharf. The state government started paying compensation in June to landlords in the community, but not tenants. They convened a meeting on 17 May to inform people of the compensation process and the planned demolition. They had held similar consultation sessions in October 2011 and March 2012.
The demolition of Abonnema Wharf is being led by security officers from the Joint Task Force (JTF), who are federal agents but also under the direct command of the state governor. It follows several nights of shootouts in the community between rival gangs and security forces. The authorities claimed that the gangs were unhappy with the government's demolition plans for the community and were threatening some property owners who had collected payments in compensation for their properties. The authorities told Amnesty International that the demolitions were intended to serve as a deterrent to future gang activities in the community and its surroundings.
The state governor has also repeatedly said that "the demolition exercise [will] sanitize and check criminal activities" in the city. Thousands of people have already been forcibly evicted from their homes, and over 200,000 more are at risk from the waterfront settlements.
Nigeria is obliged under a range of human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to refrain from and prevent forced evictions. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has emphasized that evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all feasible alternatives have been explored and only after appropriate procedural and legal safeguards are in place. These include genuine consultation with the people affected, adequate and reasonable notice, adequate alternative housing and compensation for all losses, safeguards on how evictions are carried out, and access to legal remedies and procedures, including access to legal aid where necessary. Governments are required to ensure that no one is rendered homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations as a consequence of an eviction. These requirements apply to all evictions, regardless of the tenure status of residents.
Chapter 2 of Nigeria's 1999 Constitution, Section 16 (2) (d) directs the state to ensure that suitable, adequate shelter is provided for all citizens. However, as with other provisions on social and economic rights, this falls within the Constitution's "directive principles". As such, it is not justiciable and therefore remains unenforceable in Nigeria's courts.
{Urgent Action UA 184/12 Nigeria, UPDATE1}
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