{"id":118616,"date":"2025-05-10T17:57:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=118616"},"modified":"2025-05-10T17:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T16:57:22","slug":"amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1831745493170770905\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Daniel Adaji<\/div>\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1831745493170770905-content\" class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Amnesty International has condemned the Lagos State Government\u2019s continued crackdown on homeless people, urging an immediate end to what it described as \u201charsh eviction tactics\u201d and the criminalization of poverty.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In an exclusive interview with Pointblanknews.com on Saturday, Isa Sanusi, Nigeria Country Director of Amnesty International, decried the recent arrest of 74 homeless persons by the Lagos State Environmental Taskforce during a midnight raid across parts of Lagos Island and Lekki.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cFor many years, Lagos State Government has been stigmatizing poverty and criminalizing it as well through ruthless forced evictions and arrest of destitute,\u201d Sanusi said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He criticized the government\u2019s approach to homelessness and called for a shift in priorities.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cAmnesty International condemns this brazen attempt by the government of Lagos State to demonize people living in poverty,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe government should prioritize supporting people to address the rising housing crisis, instead of using law enforcement to punish them,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The arrests occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, with officials targeting areas including Falomo Bridge, Eko Hotel Roundabout, Oniru Beach, the Nigerian Law School area, Lekki Phases 1 and 2, and 1004 Estate.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>According to Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, 72 men and 2 women were apprehended and would be charged to court.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cSanity was restored in all the areas,\u201d Wahab wrote on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, justifying the action as part of routine enforcement.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>However, the crackdown has sparked public outrage, especially on social media, where many users questioned the morality of punishing people for being homeless.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThis is so pathetic, arresting people for being homeless instead of helping?\u201d wrote Facebook user Ikechukwu Oge. Another commenter, Christian Chrisgold, added, \u201cYou want to charge a person to court for being homeless? What a nonsense government.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>While a few defended the move, citing potential links to criminality among some street dwellers, the broader backlash has highlighted growing discontent over the handling of Nigeria\u2019s worsening housing and poverty crisis.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Nigeria currently faces a housing deficit of over 28 million units, according to the Federal Mortgage Bank.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In Lagos, where rents continue to skyrocket and affordable housing remains scarce, the consequences of the crisis are especially severe.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The National Bureau of Statistics reports that over 63 per cent of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor\u2014lacking access to healthcare, education, and basic living standards.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>For Amnesty International, the pattern of forced evictions and arrests of the urban poor reflects systemic failure.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Sanusi stressed that the Lagos State Government must recognize that \u201cpeople living in poverty deserve dignity and support, not criminalization.\u201d<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_-6112105295660080778ymail_android_signature\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-footer spacer collapsible\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Daniel Adaji Amnesty International has condemned the Lagos State Government\u2019s continued crackdown on homeless people, urging an immediate end to what it described as \u201charsh eviction tactics\u201d and the&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Daniel Adaji Amnesty International has condemned the Lagos State Government\u2019s continued crackdown on homeless people, urging an immediate end to what it described as \u201charsh eviction tactics\u201d and the&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-10T16:57:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"669\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-10T16:57:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\",\"name\":\"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-10T16:57:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":669},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics - Pointblank News","og_description":"By Daniel Adaji Amnesty International has condemned the Lagos State Government\u2019s continued crackdown on homeless people, urging an immediate end to what it described as \u201charsh eviction tactics\u201d and the&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2025-05-10T16:57:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":669,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics","datePublished":"2025-05-10T16:57:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/"},"wordCount":434,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/","name":"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-10T16:57:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Amnesty-International.jpg","width":1200,"height":669},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/amnesty-international-seeks-end-to-lagos-eviction-tactics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Amnesty International Seeks End to Lagos\u2019 Eviction Tactics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118617,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118616\/revisions\/118617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}