ECOWAS Court Slams $3.3m Fine On Nigeria Over Extra-Judicial Killing

Abuja – The Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) court has imposed a fine of $3.3 million on Nigeria over the extra-judicial killing of eight citizens in the Apo District of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory.

The regional court, ordered the country to pay a compensatory damage of $200,000 to each of the family of its citizens killed and $150,000 to each of the injured by a combined team of soldiers and operatives of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) during a raid of an uncompleted building in the Apo Area of Abuja.

The eight Nigerians killed when the security personnel opened fire on them were later found to be commercial motorcycle (Okada) riders who were taking refuge in the uncompleted building as a result of skyrocketing cost of house rent in the capital city.

Those killed are Nura Abdullahi, Ashiru Musa, Abdullahi Manmman, Buhari Ibrahim, Suleiman Ibrahim, Ahmadu Musa, Nasir Adamu and Musa Yobe.

Eleven others sustained various degrees of injuries from the bullets of the soldiers and DSS operatives. They are Muttaka Abubakar, Sani Abdulrahman, Nuhu Ibrahim, Ibrahim Mohammed, Ibrahim Aliyu and Yahaya Bello.

The rest are Abubakar Auwal, Yusuf Abubakar, Ibrahim Bala, Murtala Salihu and Sanni Usman who were reported to have escaped death by the whiskers.

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), The Incorporated Trustees of Fiscal and Civil Right Enlightenment Foundation, had on behalf of the deceased dragged Nigeria, the Army and Department of State Security Services before the regional court to challenge the legality of the killing of the eight commercial motorcyclists and the injury of others who were harmless when the security men invaded their apartment.

In the judgment of the ECOWAS court delivered by presiding Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke, Nigeria was found liable of brutal killing of defenceless citizens contrary to the provision of the local and international law on the fundamental rights of citizens to life.

The panel of three justices headed by Justice Nwoke condemned the killing as barbaric, illegal and unconstitutional and a breach of the fundamental rights of the deceased to life.

The court rejected the plea by Nigeria that its security personnel killed the deceased in attempt to defend themselves, adding that there was no iota of evidence that any of the deceased carried cutlass or guns against the security men when they invaded their house.

Justice Nwoke said that the action of the security personnel constituted a serious abuse of power and misuse of firearms against innocent citizens, because there was no conflict that should have warranted opening fire on the defenseless citizens.

He said: “There is no evidence of any attempt that the deceased and the survivours attempted to harm the security personnel. There is no evidence of recovered guns. There is no evidence of bullet or pellets recovered from the deceased and tendered before this court to prove the claim that the Nigerian security personnel acted in self-defence when they stormed the house of the deceased.

“Rather, the evidence abounds that the victims were unarmed while the security personnel were the one that opened fire on the innocent and the defenseless citizens.”

Justice Nwoke further said that the burden of proof that the security personnel acted in self-defense lies on the head of the defendants and in the instance case since the burden has not being proved in anyway.

It could be recalled that a combined team of soldiers and DSS operatives acting on alleged presence of Boko Haram terrorists in an uncompleted building in Apo District of Abuja had on September 20, 2013 carried out a deadly raid on the house and opened fire on the commercial motorcycle riders who were using the building as their place of abode.