ECOWAS Court has awarded the sum of N30 million against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for ill-treatment and torture of a journalist, Agba Jalingo in Cross River State.
In the judgment delivered on Friday following a suit brought by SERAP on Jalingo’s behalf, the court said the inhuman treatment meted out on Jalingo when he was arrested and chained to a deep freezer for about 34 days without being charged to court is against international human rights treaties.
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The court held that the Nigerian government has flouted the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
The court, therefore, awarded N30 million compensation for Jalingo for violations of his human rights.
The judgment followed the suit filed by SERAP against the government of Nigeria and the Cross River state government of Governor Ben Ayade to ECOWAS Court over the prolonged, arbitrary detention of Agba Jalingo.
Jalingo, who is the publisher of Cross River Watch, was arrested on August 22, 2019, over a report alleging that Ayade diverted the sum of N500 million belonging to the state.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
