Nigeria: Bulldozer Day

‘Whose bulldozer is this?' asks a man in the street in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. ‘I have nowhere else to go!’ shouts a desperate woman. A resident recounts: ‘Before we knew it, a bulldozer appeared. The bulldozer entered our neighbourhood and started to demolish all buildings.’  

Meanwhile, activist Fubara Tokuibiye encourages people to help each other. ‘You are standing here in the street while they are packing up their belongings to flee. Can’t you stop this?’ But the people are scared of the armed police. Tokuibiye doesn’t give up. ‘There is a way to protect this place. Form a human chain. Like this!’ 

The Nigerian government has big plans for the area of the Waterfront neighbourhoods in Port Harcourt. They want to turn it into a recreational area with a shopping mall and a cinema, among other things. The residents have to make way for these plans. They are living in fear that their homes can be flattened by bulldozers at any moment.

When this happens, they lose everything they have. The Nigerian government does not offer any form of compensation.  When the bulldozer gets stuck in the mud, Tokuibiye addresses the driver: ‘Do you like destroying other people’s belongings?’