Zaki Biam Killing: LPDC Suspends Gadzama, One Other Over Federal Govt’s N8b Settlement

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Joe Kyari Gadzama and another lawyer, Ocha Ulegede, have been suspended for three years and two years respectively, from law practice by the Legal Practitioners and Disciplinary Committee, LPDC.

The complaints that led to their suspension arose from a petition, number BB/LPDC/1314/2024, filed by a lawyer, Chris Alashi.

The LPDC suspended them over their roles in the case, which was deemed misconduct.

Justice Halima Ibrahim, who delivered the judgment of the committee, asked the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court to notify.

In its judgement, the LPDC found the Respondents, Ocha Ulegede, Esq and J. K. Gadzama, SAN, liable for being in breach of various Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023.

The LPDC consequently suspended Ocha Ulegede, Esq, from legal practice for two years with effect from the date of delivery of the judgment.

K. Gadzama, SAN, was suspended from legal practice for a period of three years from the date of the judgment.

The LPDC also directed that all the heads of superior courts of record in Nigeria should be notified of the direction.

The committee also said the Inspector-General of Police should be formally notified of the suspension of the erring lawyers from legal practice.

The court case over compensation for the Zaki Biam killings arose from the military operation carried out in Benue State in October 2001, following the killing of 19 soldiers.

During the operation, soldiers invaded Zaki Biam and the surrounding communities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and widespread destruction of property.

A group of survivors, alongside 13 other victims, sued the federal government at the Federal High Court in Enugu.

They sought compensation for the deaths, destruction of property and alleged violations of their fundamental rights.

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyers including Sebastian Hon (SAN), Ocha Ulegede and Chris Alashi.

On 5 July 2007, Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Enugu, awarded the plaintiffs ₦41.8 billion as compensation against the federal government.

The federal government appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeal, but later entered negotiations with the plaintiffs to settle the matter out of court.

During the negotiations, the parties reportedly agreed to reduce the compensation from ₦41.8 billion to ₦8 billion.

The proposed settlement later became the subject of reports that the compensation would be paid through the Benue State Government under then-Governor Gabriel Suswam.

The plaintiffs and their lawyers objected, arguing that the money should be paid directly to the successful litigants because the state government was not a party to the suit. They also noted that the court had not yet adopted the out-of-court settlement.