Nigeria, heavily accused by Amnesty International of extra-judiciary killings, yesterday got the knock of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court when it was slammed with a $3.3 fine for the extra-judicial killing of eight of its citizens in the Apo District of Abuja on Sept.20, 2013.
The regional court ordered the country to pay compensatory damages of $200,000 to family of those killed and $150,000 each to the family of those injured by a combined team of soldiers and operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, during a raid on an uncompleted building.
The security agencies had tried to cover their crime at the time by saying that the victims were Boko haram members. In fact, they had claimed that the eight were killed in a shoot-out that ensued between them and Boko Haram fighters caught unawares in an uncompleted building.
Acutually, the eight were killed when over-zealous security forces, trying to impress in the fight agiainst Boko Haram, opened fire on them. It later materilaised that they were merely commercial motorcycle (Okada) riders, who were taking refuge in the uncompleted building because Nigeria they called their country could not offer them anything better.
Those killed are Nura Abdullahi, Ashiru Musa, Abdullahi Manmman, Buhari Ibrahim, Suleiman Ibrahim, Ahmadu Musa, Nasir Adamu and Musa Yobe. The 11 injured included Muttaka Abubakar, Sani Abdulrahman, Nuhu Ibrahim, Ibrahim Mohammed, Ibrahim Aliyu, Yahaya Bello, Abubakar Auwal, Yusuf Abubakar, Ibrahim Bala, Murtala Salihu and Sanni Usman.
A Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, The Incorporated Trustees of Fiscal and Civil Right Enlightment Foundation, had on behalf of the deceased, dragged Nigeria, the Army and Department of State Service to the regional court to challenge the legality of the killing of the eight commercial motorcyclists and the injuring of others.
Delivering judgement, presiding Justice, FridayChijioke Nwoke found Nigeria liable of brutal killing of defenseless citizens, contrary to the provision of 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.”
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