After losing almost everything after Nigeria’s police razed his community, Elijah Atinkpo now wants justice.

Elijah Atinkpo, 23, 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 21 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.

Director:

Dan Order

Editor:

HyoJin Park

Dan Order

Additional Reporting:

Kaitlin Englund

Additional Footage:

Elijah Atinkpo

Justice and Empowerment Initiative

Deji Akinpelu

Kaitlin Englund

Creative Consultant:

Brent Huffman

Special Thanks:

Justice and Empowerment Initiative

Nigerian Slum / Informal Settlement Federation

The Atinkpo Family

The Otodo Gbame Community

Medill Documentary Journalism Programme at Northwestern University

Access to Health

Peter Slevin

Juliet Sorensen