During three days at the end of April 2005, approximately 3,000 residents of the community of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, were forcibly evicted from their houses. Bulldozers came in and started demolishing houses, churches, and medical clinics. Amnesty International visited Makoko on 5 May 2005 and spoke with dozens of evictees. None had been supplied with adequate alternative housing and many were deprived of schooling or means of earning a living. Those evicted claimed that they had neither been given prior notice nor consulted on the planned evictions. Some of them, including children, had been beaten up by the law enforcement officials and suffered injuries as a result of the disproportionate force used, others had had all their belongings and houses destroyed by the government forces.