Nigeria 'evicted 800,000 people' from capital over four-year period, says Swiss group

The group said that many of the people who have been removed from their homes by the authorities between 2003 and 2007 were not given due notice or afforded other usual rights and that some evicted residents were tear-gassed or beaten.

It called on the capital's authorities to cease evictions that are pushing many Nigerians further into poverty.

"These widespread and ongoing evictions have resulted in the massive displacement of hundreds of thousands of people with a disastrous effect on health, education, employment and family cohesion," said the group.

It has published a report in conjunction with Nigeria's Social and Economic Rights Action Centre.

"Nigeria has violated the right to adequate housing on a scale and with a persistence that is rarely seen anywhere else in the world."

Many original residents have been forced from their homes and now live in teeming slums just over the border from the Federal Capital Territory, where property values and rents are far beyond the means of the average Nigerian.

The evicted residents have been campaigning for years to obtain fair recompense from the government.