ECOWAS Court Awards N60m Damages To Torture Victim

The ECOWAS Court sitting in Abuja has awarded N60m to a torture victim, Mr. Sunday Olaniran Ayodeji, whose leg was amputated due to a gunshot by a police officer in Kaduna.

Avocats Sans Frontieres France (Lawyers without Borders France) had dragged the federal government to the court seeking compensation for the victim.

According to the court in its judgement delivered on July 10, 2023, the Nigerian government should be held responsible for the torture.

The court therefore awarded N60m to as compensation.

At the time of the harassment Mr. Ayodeji’s possessions including a car and N900,000 were confiscated unlawfully by the police.

The man whose case was handled on pro-bono basis by Avocats Sans Frontieres France under the European Union(EU) and Agence française de Développement (AFD) funded SAFE Project was awarded N60m with an order for the immediate return of his confiscated possessions.

Speaking to newsmen, Nigeria’s country director of ASF France, Mrs Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, said, “We are delighted that despite all challenges and legal hurdles faced by our legal team in pursuit of justice in this case, justice was served. We are optimistic that this will serve as a deterrent against the systemic use of torture in Nigeria. The amount awarded by the court will not restore our client who has been permanently disabled by torture, but it has given hope to not just Mr. Ayodeji but other torture survivors that justice is possible even against powerful governments and institutions.”

Avocats Sans Frontieres (ASF) France, began a two-day training for 30 members of the National Committee Against Torture (NCAT) on the legal framework on torture and effective implementation of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017.

The federal government had inaugurated NCAT on Sept.11, 2022 with the aim to eliminate torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

The country director who stated this during the opening ceremony, said participants were drawn from law enforcement agencies, judiciary and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among others.

NCAT was set up by the former Attorney-General of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, as one of his commitments to torture prevention in the country.

Uzoma-Iwuchukwu said the essence of the training was to provide capacity support to NCAT to enable it perform its function efficiently in terms of torture prevention  in the country.