ECOWAS Orders Nigerian Govt to Pay N88bn as Compensation to Nigerian Civil War Victims

 

Emma Ella and Ola Akinbami

Forty seven years after the Nigeria civil war ended with no 'victor no vanquished' terms, the federal government on Monday agreed to pay victims of the war a whopping sum of N88billion compensation.

A breakdown of the compensation adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice as consent judgment for government and the victims showed that N50 billion will go directly to the victims of the war in 11 affected states in the Southeast, South-south and parts of the North central region, while the remaining N38billion will go for the evacuation of abandoned bombs and other lethal weapons and construction of schools, courts, churches and mosque among others in the affected areas.

In the consent judgement read by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke, the federal government is expected to pay the N50 billion into a United Bank of Africa (UBA) with account number 1018230076 belonging to Chief Noel Agwuocha Chukwukadibia, the nominated counsel for the war victims and another N38 billion is to be paid into another UBA with account number 1016296801 belonging to Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited for RSB Holdings Nigeria Limited and Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited which are expected to evacuate all the abandoned bombs and other dangerous weapons in the farmlands, schools, churches and mosque of the war victims and also carry out construction works.

Besides, the federal government will, by the consent judgment, establish a National Mine Action Centre in Owerri, Imo State, for victims in the Southeast region.

In order to ensure transparent and accountability, the federal government will also set up a Special Purpose Vehicle that will comprise all necessary stakeholders in the terms of settlement.

The consent judgment further indicated that medical experts employed on behalf of the federal government to screen and identify true victims of the war, acknowledged that 685 persons were selected and classified as survivors while 493 of them, including those who sued the federal government, were confirmed as victims of either landmines or other dangerous military ordinance, including locally fabricated weapons, and  are confirmed to be entitled to compensation.

The consent judgment further acknowledged that a total of 17,000 bombs were recovered in the war ravaged communities and destroyed by RSB Holdings Limited and Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited, while a total of 1,317 bombs are still in the stockpile located at the Mine Action Centre, Owerri, in addition to large quantities of live bombs that still liter communities of the war victims.

It further indicated that the federal government as part of its responsibility to remove and destroy without further delay all the stockpilesof bombs at the Nigerian Mine Action Centre located at plot 108, Ndubisi Kanu Street, New Owerri, Imo State.

Parties, according to the consent judgment, agreed that the war victims, apart from their direct physical injuries, their families and community at large, have been deprived of the use of their farmland since the civil war hostilities ended in 1970, hence the agreement to clear the war affected areas of the post-war ordinances.

It was also agreed that RSB Holdings Nigeria Limited and Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited, having satisfactorily performed the first phase of clearing and destroying the post-war bombs, should be mobilised back to site to complete the final phase of the ongoing demining process.

The representatives of the victims of the Nigerian civil war, including the 493 victims prey enumerated by the Federal Ministry of Defence, have through their agents, Vincent Agu and 19 others, dragged the federal government before the ECOWAS court demanding N100billion and another order of the court compelling the government to clear and destroy all by post-civil war bombs and other dangerous weapons of war abandoned in their various communities and farmland since 1970.

The plaintiffs claimed that apart from physical injuries, the abandonment of the war weapons has deprived them of the use of their farmlands, schools and churches, hence their demands for compensation.

Though the suit was filed at the regional court in 2012, the federal government opted for out-of-court settlement with the war victims prompting the court to adopt the terms of settlement by government and the war as consent judgment was delivered yesterday.

Key signatories to the terms of settlement are Rt Hon. Noel Chukwukadibia and Alex Williams for the applicants; Chief Femi Falana (SAN), Sola Egbeyinka, Charles Uhegbu and Solomon Chukwuocha for government and its agencies, while Dr. Charles Onuoha and Chief Alams Chukquemeka signed for the stakeholders.