ECOWAS Court orders FG to pay N50m to abuse victim
The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (the ECOWAS Court) presided over by Justice Wilkins Wright has ordered the federal government to pay one Sunday Mary N50 million.
The verdict was given in a case of domestic violence filed on behalf of Mary by a non-governmental organization, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) and a Gambian partner, the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA).
The suit was filed in 2015 following a domestic violence perpetrated on Mary by her fiancé, a Nigerian police officer in August 2012.
WARDC in a statement yesterday said Mary in 2012 had a heated argument with her fiancé, Isaac Gbanwuan, who brutally beat her and poured a boiling pot of stew on her.
“Consequently, Mary suffered extreme burns, lost her ears, has not been able work or walk freely on the streets as a result of the burns on her body which has resulted in deformation and incapacitation”, the statement said.
The complainants argued that the Nigerian state failed to effectively investigate the incident, prosecute and punish the perpetrator.
In its ruling in Abuja, the court found Nigeria guilty of violation of Mary’s right to access to justice and right to have her cause heard.
The court however found Nigeria not to be in violation of her right to freedom from discrimination and gender-based violence.
It ordered Nigeria to pay Mary financial reparation amounting to N50m, the equivalent of about $138,000.
The statement quoted Mary as saying after the judgment, “I have suffered so much pain since the incident happened, and had never known I would obtain justice someday. I don’t know how to thank the lawyers who took it upon themselves to give me hope and assist me in seeking justice.”
The Executive Directors for WARDC and IHRDA, Dr. Abiola AkiyodeAfolabi and Gaye Sowe respectively, commended the court’s decision which they described as a progressive and important jurisprudence for the promotion and protection of women’s rights in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa.