Niger governmentt to pay 60m CFA compensation to Nigerien victims of slavery

The government of Niger has been ordered by the ECOWAS Court to pay a total of 60 million CFA in compensation to a woman and her six children for the prejudice they suffered as a result of enslavement.

Justice Gberi-Be Ouattara, judge rapporteur, who delivered the judgment of the Cour,t also ordered the State to submit to the Court within six months, a report of the measures taken to implement its judgment in the suit filed by Fodi Mohamed and her six children.

The Republic of Niger was also mandated to bear all costs.

In suit ECW/CCJ/APP/27/19 filed before the Court on June 13, 2019, the Applicants, who were represented by their lawyer, Mr. Abdourahamane Chaibou; a Nigerien NGO Timidria; and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), a Pan-African Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) registered in The Gambia, alleged the violation of the human rights of the Applicants who were categorised as slaves by the society and urged the Court to hold the government of Niger liable for the violations and payment of compensation as reparation for the prejudice they suffered.

In the initiating application, the woman said she was born a slave to parents of slave origin in the service of a local chief/leader in the region of Tillaberi in Niger and according to the custom she and her descendants were to maintain the status of slaves.