Elijah Atinkpo, 26, lost almost everything he owned on April 9, 2017. The police razed the impoverished Nigerian waterfront community of Otodo Gbame. Like 30,000 other evictees, Antinkpo fled without most of his belongings. He lost his art and poetry in the fire. Atinkpo now works for a legal campaign group, Justice and Empowerment Initiatives (JEI). He travels to communities where scattered evictees now live, dedicating himself to achieving justice.The forcible eviction from Otodo Gbame was not an exceptional event. In Lagos, a city of 14 million, land is a precious commodity. The Nigerian government has been accused of displacing poor communities living on prime real estate. Rights groups like Amnesty are calling these forced evictions land grabs. But Antinkpo remains optimistic about the future. He is still holding onto his dream of being a filmmaker, working in Marvel Studios. He wants to see his people reflected in their stories.
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