The ECOWAS Community Court has determined that the Nigerian government violated the rights of three Nigerians during the 2020 EndSARS protest at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos. The unanimous judgment by the three-member panel came in response to a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Obianuju Catherine Udeh, Perpetual Kamsi, and Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka.
The court, led by Justice Koroma Mohamed Sengu, found Nigeria in breach of Articles 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These violations pertain to the rights to life, security of person, freedom of expression, assembly and association, prohibition of torture, and the state's duty to investigate and provide effective remedies.
The court dismissed the allegation that the right to life was violated under Article 4 of the ACPHR but ordered Nigeria to pay each applicant N2 million as compensation for violations of their rights to security of person, freedom from torture and cruel treatment, freedom of expression, assembly, and association, and the duty to investigate human rights abuses.
The judgment also mandates Nigeria to investigate and prosecute agents responsible for these violations and to report back to the court within six months on the measures taken to implement the judgment.
The applicants had alleged various human rights violations during the peaceful protests at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20 and 21, 2020, aimed at addressing police harassment and brutality. They provided accounts of soldiers shooting at protesters, resulting in deaths and injuries, and described being forced into hiding, hospitalizations due to police tear gas, and inadequate hospital care for victims.
The Nigerian government denied all claims, asserting that the protesters unlawfully assembled and that its agents followed strict rules of engagement, denying any shooting or killing of protesters. However, the court found the government's actions breached several articles of the ACHPR, resulting in fundamental human rights violations.
The court's panel included Honourable Justices Dupe Atoki and Ricardo Claúdio Monteiro Gonçalves.
