A fine of $3.3 million has been slammed on the Nigerian government by the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, court over the alleged extrajudicial killing of eight Nigerian citizens in the Apo District of Abuja, the Nigerian Capital.
The court ordered that families of the eight deceased persons be paid a compensation of $200,000 each, while each of the eleven persons who were injured in the incident will receive $150,000.
A combined team of soldiers and operatives of the Department of State Security Service, DSS had raided an uncompleted building in the Apo area of Abuja on September 20, 2013 and opened fire on the occupants of the building.
The security agencies said they attacked the building because of intelligence suggesting that the occupants were terrorists planning to attack the city.
But it was later established that the victims were commercial motorcycle operators who were taking shelter in the uncompleted building as a result of skyrocketing cost of house rent in the capital city.
A Non-Governmental Organisation, The Incorporated Trustees of Fiscal and Civil Right Enlightenment Foundation had taken up the matter on behalf of victims of the incident and sued Nigeria, the Army and the DSS at the ECOWAS court.
The panel of three Justices headed by Justice Friday Nwoke, held that Nigeria was liable for the brutal killing of defenceless citizens contrary to the provision of local and international laws on the fundamental rights of citizens to life.
The court rejected the plea by Nigeria that its security personnel acted in self defence since there was no evidence that any of the deceased carried cutlass or guns against the security men when they invaded the house.
“There is no evidence of any attempt that the deceased and the survivals 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 storm the house of the deceased,” he said.