{"id":113170,"date":"2024-07-11T17:40:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T16:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=113170"},"modified":"2024-07-11T17:40:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T16:40:57","slug":"lekki-protests-ecowas-court-finds-nigeria-in-breach-of-human-rights-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/lekki-protests-ecowas-court-finds-nigeria-in-breach-of-human-rights-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Lekki Protests: ECOWAS Court finds Nigeria in breach of human rights violations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, has ruled that Nigeria violated the human rights of Obianuju Catherine Udeh and two others.<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\nThe Court found Nigeria in breach of Articles 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, specifically pertaining to the right to life, security of person, freedom of expression, assembly and association, prohibition of torture, duty of the state to investigate, and the right to effective remedy.<\/p>\n

The Applicants, Obianuju Catherine Udeh, Perpetual Kamsi and Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka alleged that these violations occurred during the peaceful protests at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State on October 20 and 21, 2020.<\/p>\n

Justice Koroma Mohamed Sengu, the Judge Rapporteur, who delivered the judgment said that the Court dismissed the allegation that\u00a0the right to life as guaranteed under Article 4 of the ACPHR\u00a0is violated. However, he said that the Respondent must pay each Applicant N2 million as compensation for violations of their security of person, prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, duty to investigate human rights violations, and right to effective remedy.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Respondent must adhere to its obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, investigate and prosecute its agents responsible for these violations, and report to the Court within six months on the measures taken to implement this judgment.<\/p>\n

The Applicants alleged that during the peaceful protests against the SARS Unit of the Nigerian Police Force at Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos State, on October 20 and 21, 2020, the Respondent committed several human rights violations.<\/p>\n

Triggered by the alleged killing of Daniel Chibuike, the protests aimed to address police harassment and brutality. The First Applicant\u2019s claims include that the soldiers shot protesters, resulting in deaths and injuries, which she live-streamed, subsequently receiving threatening phone calls that forced her into hiding and eventual asylum. The Second Applicant, responsible for protesters\u2019 welfare, describes how soldiers began shooting after a power cut, leading to her hospitalisation due to police tear gas.<\/p>\n

The Third Applicant recounted narrowly escaping being shot, observing the refusal of ambulance entry by soldiers, and later witnessing inadequate hospital care for victims.<\/p>\n

She argued that she and her colleagues took over the victims\u2019 care and she faced ongoing threats and surveillance, believed to be by Respondent\u2019s agents.<\/p>\n

The Applicants sought declaratory reliefs and compensation from the Court for these violations.<\/p>\n

The Respondent denied all claims made by the Applicants, asserting that the protesters unlawfully assembled at Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, under the guise of protesting against SARS.<\/p>\n

The Respondent also maintained that its agents followed strict rules of engagement and did not shoot or kill protesters. It argued that the First<\/p>\n

Applicant incited the crowd by playing music and using her Instagram page to stir disaffection against law enforcement, who were targeting escapee members of Boko Haram and bandits.<\/p>\n

The Respondent contended that the Second Applicant\u2019s provision of logistics and welfare support indicated her support for the violent protest.<\/p>\n

It claimed that soldiers were present to restore peace until the police arrived, denying any harm inflicted on protesters and the refusal of ambulance access.<\/p>\n

The Respondent also denied that the Third Applicant\u2019s presence was peaceful, asserting it was meant to escalate violence.<\/p>\n

It argued that the treatment and care of the injured were managed by the Lagos State government and submitted that the Applicants had not provided credible evidence to support their claims, or the reliefs sought.<\/p>\n

In its judgement, the Court\u00a0found there was no violation of the right to life as the Applicants filed their claims\u00a0in vitam.<\/p>\n

However, the Court held that several articles of the ACHPR were breached by the Respondent, which occasioned fundamental breaches of human rights violation therein.<\/p>\n

Furthermore,\u00a0the Court declared that the Applicants were denied the right to an effective remedy.<\/p>\n

The Court ordered that the Respondent make reparations to the Applicants for the violation of their fundamental human rights.<\/p>\n

Also on the three-member panel were Honourable Justices Dupe Atoki, presiding and Ricardo Cla\u00fadio Monteiro Gon\u00e7alves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, has ruled that Nigeria violated the human rights of Obianuju Catherine Udeh and two others. The Court found Nigeria in breach of Articles 1,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nLekki Protests: ECOWAS Court finds Nigeria in breach of human rights violations - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/lekki-protests-ecowas-court-finds-nigeria-in-breach-of-human-rights-violations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lekki Protests: ECOWAS Court finds Nigeria in breach of human rights violations - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, has ruled that Nigeria violated the human rights of Obianuju Catherine Udeh and two others. 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