The ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria to pay Oluwatimilehin Adebayo ₦5 million for violating his right to be free from torture.
The court also directed Nigeria to launch an immediate, impartial, and effective inquiry into the torture and punish those guilty.
Adebayo, in a suit filed (ECW/CCJ/APP/47/23), accused several Ogun State police officers of exposing him to extreme physical abuse, including hitting him with an axe handle and chaining his limbs to a pole.
He claimed that the incident caused him bodily ailments, including scrotal pain, and left him in serious psychological turmoil.
However, the respondent, the Nigerian Government, disputed the Court’s jurisdiction, claiming that the action was brought outside of the three-year limitation period specified in the Court’s rules, rendering it statute-barred.
It further maintained that the Court lacked jurisdiction to consider the dispute since it would require examining a case that is either pending (sub judice) or has already been determined by a municipal court in the respondent state.
