There’s hope, DJ Switch says as court awards N6m damages

Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), yesterday, found the Federal Government guilty of violating the fundamental human rights of youths that participated in the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
 
The court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of justices, held that there was merit in a suit that three participants in the protest (Obianuju Catherine Udeh, Perpetual Kamsi and Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka) lodged before it.
 
It ordered the Federal Government to pay each of the three applicants N2 million damages.
 
Udeh, known as DJ Switch, described the judgment “a glimmer of hope” that Nigeria could head in the right direction in service of the truth and justice.
 
Specifically, the court held that Nigeria, through its security agencies, violated Articles 1, 4, 6, 9, 10 and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), pertaining to the right to life, security of person, freedom of expression, assembly and association, prohibition of torture, duty of the state to investigate and the right to effective remedy.
 
The applicants had, in their suit, alleged that the violations occurred during peaceful protests they held at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State on October 20 and 21, 2020.
 
The regional court, in its lead judgment that was delivered by the Judge Rapporteur, Justice Koroma Sengu, dismissed the applicants’ allegation that their right to life, as guaranteed under Article 4 of the ACPHR, was violated.
 
Additionally, it held that the Federal Government must adhere to its obligations under the ACHPR, by investigating and prosecuting its agents responsible for the violations, and report to it within the next six months.
 
Triggered by the alleged killing of one Daniel Chibuike, the protests were aimed at addressing police harassment and brutality.
 
Meanwhile, in processes it filed before the court, the government, through its team of lawyers, denied all the allegations and claims of the applicants, claiming that its agents followed strict rules of engagement and did not shoot or kill protesters.
 
Udeh was reacting to the court’s judgment that the Nigerian government used “disproportionate force” in its response to the #EndSARS protest at the tollgate in Lagos.
 
“Not once did I waver in my shared experience of the traumatic events of October 20, 2020. But to sit in court and listen to the esteemed judges, based on the facts, give a ruling in our favour not only reaffirms what I know and experienced but makes this one of the best days of my life since the horrific event,” said Udeh, who gained international prominence after her Instagram exposed the military’s unprovoked attack on unarmed protesters.