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ECOWAS, has dismissed a case filed against the Federal Government of Nigeria on the assassination of the late Mrs. Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, M.K.O Abiola.
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The court ruled that the applicants, three members of the Abiola family, lacked the legal capacity to sue on behalf of Kudirat Abiola’s estate.
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The court declared the case inadmissible due to the applicants’ lack of legal capacity, despite affirming its competence to hear cases involving alleged human rights violations by member states.
The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS, has dismissed a case filed against the Federal Government of Nigeria on the assassination of the late Mrs. Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, M.K.O Abiola.
The suit was filed by three members of the Abiola family, Khalifa Abiola, Moriam Abiola, and Hadi Abiola, who alleged that Kudirat’s rights were violated when she was assassinated in 1996 while advocating her husband’s release from detention.
According to the applicants, the Nigerian government violated Kudirat’s fundamental human rights by failing to hold her killers accountable, despite a commission of inquiry identifying a key suspect, Sergeant Barnabas Jebila.
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However, in its ruling delivered on Friday, the Judge Rapporteur, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, stated that the applicants lacked the legal capacity to sue, as they failed to establish a direct relationship with Kudirat or present any legal mandate to act on behalf of her estate.
In a statement sent to newsmen through, the case with suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/62/22, the ECOWAS court rejected Nigeria’s objections regarding its jurisdiction, affirming its competence to hear cases involving alleged human rights violations by member states.
The court clarified that its role does not involve acting as an appellate body over national court rulings.
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