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, 2
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