The ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja has awarded the sum of N30million as compensation to a journalist, Agba Jalingo, against the Federal Government of Nigeria and Cross River State, over his arbitrary arrest, detention and torture.
In a judgment delivered Friday by a three-member panel, presided over by the president of the court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, it was held that the Nigerian government flouted the provisions of international fair trial standards, particularly, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, to which Nigeria is a state party.
According to the court, “Agba Jalingo was arrested and chained to a deep freezer for about 34 days without being charged to court. He was brutalized and dehumanized.
“This action, taken on Jalingo’s behalf by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), seeks from this court, reparation for inhuman treatment and torture meted out to him.
