Follow Us on Google
By Lukman Olabiyi
The ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government to pay N30 million to a journalist, Agba Jalingo, as compensation for torturing him while in detention in Cross River State.
The court gave the verdict yesterday in a judgment it delivered in the suit instituted by SERAP on behalf of Jalingo against the Federal Government and Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State over the prolonged, arbitrary detention, unfair prosecution, persecution, and sham trial of Mr. Jalingo
In an affidavit, Agba Jalingo said he was arrested and chained to a deep freezer for about 34 days without being charged to court; brutalized and dehumanized. The action made him to approach the court to seek reparation for inhuman treatment and torture meted out to the journalist, it was gathered.
Other News
The court in its judgment held: “We have looked at the evidence before us. There was no answer as to the facts 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, and 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 N30 million to Mr. Jalingo for the 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”.
Jalingo, who is the publisher of Cross River Watch, was arrested on August 22 over a report alleging that Mr. Ayade diverted N500 million belonging to the state.
