SERAC PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS OF MAKOKO FIRE DISASTER

A devastating fire swept through the Makoko community of Lagos State on April 10, 2009, razing about three-quarters of the community and rendering thousand of families homeless.  One of the most blighted communities in Lagos, Makoko was home to over 100,000 people, according to the latest population figures.  Even before the fire, the community suffered from serious infrastructural deficiencies, including inadequate access roads, schools, health care facilities, and housing, as well as from forced evictions and housing demolitions.

Responding to the emergency, SERAC immediately deployed program staff and organizers to the community to document the situation and formulate an appropriate assistance program.  Within days, SERAC staff had visited the Herbert Macaulay Primary School and the Talim-Ul-Islam Ahmadiya Primary School, where victims of the fire disaster had taken refuge, as well as with staff of the Yaba Local Government Council, to investigate the causes of the fire, enumerate the persons affected, document the impact on the community, and map an effective intervention strategy.