BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Late Nunugwo
The Community Court of Justice, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has indicted the federal government over the death of a businessman, Desmond Nunugwo, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April 2016.
To this end, the court mandated the federal government to pay N20 million compensation to the deceased family for all the prejudice and damages suffered as a result of his death in violation of Article 4 of the African Charter.
The 29-page judgment obtained by BENNY Okeke's blog on Thursday revealed that Justice Edward Asante presided over the case alongside Justices Dupe Atoki and Januaria Costa, on March 21, 2022.
He was assisted by the Deputy Chief Registrar, Dr Athanase Atonno.
Nunugwo was detained by EFCC operatives in Abuja on April 16, 2016, on allegations of defrauding a complainant the sum of N91 million.
Barely 24 hours later, he was said to have been taken to an undisclosed hospital where he was confirmed dead.
The deceased’s family had accused the anti-graft agency then headed by Ibrahim Magu, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, of killing Nunugwo, who was reportedly healthy before his arrest.
But the commission failed to respond to the allegations, prompting the deceased’s siblings, Rose Breivigel and Elizabeth Baumerich, to file an action against the EFCC in March 2019.
The applicant’s claimed that no effective investigation was conducted, as the deceased body remained in a mortuary for more than 18 months while the federal government issued a statement alleging that the deceased was guilty of the crime.
They contended that the facts breached the African Charter on Human Rights particularly the right to life, prohibition from torture, the presumption from innocence and the right to human dignity variously protected under Articles 4, 5 and 7 (1) (b) of the charter.
Based on the reports of extra-judicial killings in the country, the applicants claimed that their brother, who was survived by a wife and four children, was tortured to death.
The Counsels to the applicants, Oludayo Fagbemi Esq and Holger Hermbach filed the case while the federal government was represented by Maimuna Shiru.
Before filing the suit, the ECOWAS court stated that the applicants reported the death of their brother to the authorities, which failed to investigate the incident.
In addition, they lodged a complaint with the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in February 2017.
Justice Asante said that in April, 2018, an autopsy was carried out on Mr Nunugwo without the consent of the family, adding that the doctor issued a medical certificate, indicating that hypertension was the cause of his death, without providing additional explanation and information on the condition of Nunugwo’s body.
He declared that Nunugwo’s right to life under Article 4 of the African Charter was violated and that the respondent (federal government) also breached its duty to investigate the case under the same charter.
Asante said, “The court sitting in public after hearing both parties declares that Mr Nunugwo’s right to life under Article 4 of the African Charter was violated by the respondent; declares that the respondent violated its duty to investigate under Article 4 of the charter and dismisses the allegation of violation of Mr Nunugwo’s right to freedom from torture under Article 5 of the African Charter. "
Also, "Dismisses the allegation of the applicants that Mr Nunugwo’s right to presumption of innocence under Article 7 of the Charter was violated by the respondent, and orders the respondent to pay the lump sum of N20m to the family of Mr Nunugwo as compensation for all the prejudice and damages suffered as a result of his death in violation of Article 4 of the African Charter.”
The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren was yet to react to the judgment as at the time of filing this report.
With Additional Report from The PUNCH
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