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December 06, 2005
Military in Lagos flats showdown
Soldiers in the Nigerian city of Lagos have descended on tower blocks in a well-off suburb to evict the residents.
The armed men arrived before dawn and knocked down apartment doors shouting: "Pack out or you'll suffer".
Bar Beach Towers and a nearby complex are being sold off by the government and civil servants living there are being given a rent allowance instead.
The government workers wanted to buy the flats but the buildings have been handed over to the military.
The BBC's Sola Odunfa at the Bar Beach Towers said the soldiers have cordoned off the area in Victoria Island and are not allowing people in or out of the 120 apartments.
They are threatening those inside the five high-rise blocks, he said.
The army is expected to try and forcibly remove the residents from a nearby complex of 1004 apartments next.
On Monday, our correspondent says there were demonstrations outside the 1004 block as civil service occupants prepared to battle it out and resist their eviction.
All military services across Nigeria face a shortage of barracks, he says.
Posted by Publisher at December 6, 2005 04:02 PM
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