The ECOWAS Court has delivered a landmark verdict, ordering Nigeria to compensate 26 eviction victims—each to receive N2 million—for being forcefully uprooted from their homes in Lagos and Rivers between 2004 and 2013.
The plaintiffs, led by Edwin Lenyie, pursued the case (Suit No: ECW/CCJ/APP/34/17) to enforce their fundamental human rights, arguing that the government’s abrupt evictions left them homeless without notice, compensation, or alternative shelter.
In its ruling on Thursday, the court castigated the Nigerian government for its failure to provide legal remedies, ruling that the evictions violated Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights—an article that safeguards the right to a fair trial and access to justice. The court highlighted that the initial hearings by the National Human Rights Commission in 2014 had been indefinitely suspended, depriving the victims of any meaningful redress.
Rejecting Nigeria’s contention that the claim should have been pursued in domestic courts, the three-judge panel—comprising Justices Ricardo Gonçalves (presiding), Sengu Koroma, and Gberi-Bè Ouattara—affirmed its jurisdiction over the matter. The court also removed the NHRC from the case, unequivocally holding the Federal Government accountable for the actions of its agencies.
This robust judgment is seen as a critical step towards delivering overdue justice and reparation to the aggrieved, signaling a resounding call for accountability and respect for human rights across the region.
