The West African court on Wednesday ordered
Nigeria to pay $3.25 million in compensation to families and victims for
the extrajudicial killings of eight civilians and the wounding of 11
others shot by soldiers and secret service agents in the capital, Abuja.
The court of the Economic Community of West African States said there
is no evidence to back the stance of the Nigerian army and Department
of Security Services that troops fired in self-defense on an alleged
group of Boko Haram extremists the night of Sept. 20, 2013.
The
three-judge panel led by Judge Friday Chijioke Nwoke found the Nigerian
state liable for the “barbaric, illegal and unconstitutional” deaths
and injuries. It ordered the government to pay $200,000 to the families
of each man killed and $150,000 to each of those wounded.
Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission
investigated the shootings and also ordered the government to pay
victims compensation, which never has been paid. The government
frequently ignores court orders to pay compensation.
The victims in the Apo suburb of Abuja were squatting in an
unfinished building. At the time, the military did not respond to media
reports suggesting the raid was requested by a retired army officer who
owned the building and wanted the squatters out.
The court case, brought by a nonprofit representing the victims, is
the latest blow against Nigeria’s security forces. Amnesty International
has accused the army of being responsible for the deaths of some 8,000
civilian detainees in its fight against the Boko Haram insurgency in the
northeast.
In December, the military gunned down hundreds of Shiites over three
days in the northern town of Zaria, and this year it has been accused of
killing an unknown number of civilians in a crackdown on militants
operating in the oil-producing south. (Seattle Times)
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