The ECOWAS Court of Justice has rejected a lawsuit by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which sought N50 million in compensation from the Nigerian government for each victim of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
The attack occurred in March 2022, when armed assailants targeted a train traveling from Abuja to Kaduna with over 970 passengers onboard. Many passengers were killed, others were injured, and 61 people were abducted. Over time, all the abducted passengers were released, with the last group freed after seven months.
In response, SERAP filed a lawsuit on behalf of some victims, seeking compensation.
However, the ECOWAS court ruled on Thursday that SERAP’s claim was inadmissible, as it did not meet the “victim status” criteria required under Article 10(d) of the ECOWAS protocol for litigation.
Delivering judgement, Dupe Atoki 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.
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