On 26 January 2017, a Lagos State High Court ruled that the demolition and threatened demolition of Lagos’ waterfront communities without adequate notice or provision of alternative shelter amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution. This ruling is a victory for the hundreds of thousands of residents of Lagos State’s waterfronts under threat of mass demolitions since October 2016, as well as a landmark in the fight against forced evictions in Nigeria and beyond.
