Why ECOWAS Court ordered FG to pay N30m to Agba Jalingo

The ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government to pay journalist Agba Jalingo N30m as compensation for the ill-treatment and torturing melted on him while in detention in Cross River state.

Recall that on 22nd August 2019, the Nigeria Police, through its special anti-robbery squad arrested Agba Jalingo over a petition that he was into gun-running.

More so, on 23rd August 2019, Mr Jalingo was transferred to a detention facility run by the anti-cult and anti-kidnapping police in Calabar, the capital of Nigeria’s southern Cross River state and was held there for days before his arraignment on 31st August 2019.

However, in vindicating him, the court said, in a judgment, “Agba Jalingo was arrested and chained to a deep freezer for about 34 days without being charged to court, brutalized and dehumanized.

“This action taken on Jalingo’s behalf by SERAP seeks from this court reparation for inhuman treatment and torture meted out to him. We have looked at the evidence before us. There was no answer as to the fact that Jalingo was arrested and illegally detained, brutalized and dehumanized.

“This is against international human rights treaties, particularly the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. The Nigerian government has flouted the provisions of these treaties on international fair trial standards.

“For these reasons, on the claims of compensation for ill-treatment and torture, SERAP has been able to establish the claims. We condemn the Nigerian government for these acts, and hereby award compensation of N30m to Mr Jalingo for violations of his human rights. The Nigerian government must comply with the order of the court within three months, and file a process to this court to this effect.”