The ECOWAS court of justice has dismissed a suit filed by
the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) seeking N50
million compensation from the federal government for each victim of the
Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
In March 2022, gunmen attacked an Abuja-bound Kaduna train
with over 970 passengers onboard.
Many passengers were killed, several persons injured, while
61 were abducted during the attack.
All the abducted passengers were released at various
intervals, with the latest batch freed after seven months.
Following the attack, SERAP filed a suit before the ECOWAS
court against the federal government on behalf of some of the victims.
However, in the ruling on Thursday, the court held that
SERAP’s claims were inadmissible because they failed to meet the “victim
status” requirement essential for litigation under Article 10(d) of the same
protocol.
Dupe Atoki, who delivered the judgement, described the case
as “unsuitable as a public interest litigation” because the victims were
“identifiable individuals rather than an indeterminate public group”.
“The court recognises its jurisdiction to hear the case as
it involved potential human rights violations within a member state, in
accordance with Article 9(4) of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol,” the court
ruled.
“However, the court determines that the case does not meet
the criteria for a public interest action, or actio popularis, which requires
that the alleged violations affect a large, indeterminate segment of the public
or the general public itself.”
The court added that the reliefs sought by the claimants,
including specific monetary compensation, should have been directed at the
identifiable victims of the attack, rather than the public at large.
In April, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) announced the
arrest of Ibrahim Abdullahi, the suspected mastermind of the fatal train
attack.
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