In July 2000, the homes of an estimated one million residents of Rainbow Town in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in the heart of Nigeria’s oil-producing region, were levelled to the ground by bulldozers reportedly on the order of the State Governor. According to reports by COHRE, demolition officials and heavily armed anti-riot police allegedly shot at terrified residents in an effort to disperse them and stop them from removing their belongings. The violence reportedly left at least four people dead, including three newborn babies, and many severely injured. Members of the security forces subjected some residents to torture and ill-treatment, including kicking, hitting with gun butts and whipping. The government, stating that the evictions would allow urban renewal, reportedly neither gave adequate notice of the evictions nor offered no compensation or resettlement for the affected families. According to SERAC, the evictions took place despite cases pending in the courts to stop them. Since 2000 the Rivers State Government has not commenced any development on the land where the evictions took place. Many of the former residents eventually found accommodation in other parts of the state or returned to their home states.

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