Police Demolish Lagos` Otodo Gbame Leaves Many Displaced

Thousands of people in Nigeria’s Lagos state were left homeless on Sunday after police stormed an informal fishing settlement and set fire to their homes, according to rights groups and residents.

Community members of the Otodo Gbame riverine community said armed police fired bullets and tear gas indiscriminately, forcing them onto canoes in the water as their houses were levelled.

One man was shot in the neck and later died, residents and Justice and Empowerment Initiatives (JEI), a Lagos-based group working with the community, told Al Jazeera.

The forceful eviction followed the destruction of the homes of more than 4,700 people in the settlement in mid-March for environmental and health reasons, according to local authorities.

LIVE: #OtodoGbame refugees float in boats while Lagos Task Force sets their homes on fire @MaggieFick @StephanieBusari @stephhegarty @sdinet pic.twitter.com/sVVLlsNUFB

— JEI (@justempower) April 9, 2017

Images from the incident:

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