ECOWAS Court dismisses applicant seeking inclusion in N50bn compensation from Civil War explosion

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has dismissed the application of a third-party applicant, representing 6,500 parties seeking inclusion to benefit from a N50 billion consent judgment of the court.

The court had awarded a consent judgment on the matter in 2017, ordering N50 billion as compensation to the victims of remnants of explosives from Nigeria’s three-year civil war.

The court disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja following its ruling on the matter on Feb. 25, read by Justice Dupe Atoki, judge rapporteur.

Atoki said that the court ruled that the Applicant TP3 provided no evidence to substantiate its claim qualifying all 6,500 applicants under TP3 to partake in the compensation awarded in the consent judgment of the Court.

Atoki said that the court also ordered all the parties to bear their costs. According to the statement, the ruling of the court was premised on the provisions of the United Nations Policy on Victim Assistance in Mine Action, 2016 and Article 9 (1) B.

Justice Atoki affirmed: “It is expedient at this point for the Court to state clearly that a third party application is not a carte blanche (French expression for unrestrained freedom) for all comers to seek to be joined in a process that has led to a judgment.

“It is a closed-door that can only be opened to parties who must prove a prejudice will emanate from their continuous shut out having established concurrently that they fall within the classification of victims in the said judgment.

“Although the Court held it had jurisdiction to hear the suit and declared it admissible, the Court upheld the preliminary objection of the initial Applicants – Vincent Agu & 19 others.

“And the fourth and fifth respondents comprising two companies retained by the government for the demining exercise in the original application – and declared TP3 as lacking locus standi/legal personality to file the application.

“The Court upheld their argument after it observed that TP3 did not establish a right inherent in the consent judgment.

“For it to be joined as a party since they did not justify their claims by proving they were directly affected or inflicted with injuries from the mine explosives and remnants of the war.

“However, the Court dismissed their objection that the application was statute-barred for lack of evidence,” Atoki said.

According to Atoki, the third party Applicant TP3 comprising Pastor Dan Ekpemsidem & 6,499 allegedly living in communities in Nigeria’s Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa and Benue states filed an application premised on the consent judgment.