- Judgment not enforceable, ex-lawmaker Onoh argues
The Enugu State High Court has ordered the British government to pay £420 million in compensation to the families of 21 Nigerian coal miners brutally killed by colonial forces in 1949.
Presiding judge, Anthony Onovo, declared on Thursday that the killings were unlawful and amounted to an extrajudicial violation of the right to life.
The court directed the UK government to tender a formal apology, both through the victims’ lawyers and in national newspapers in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
Each family is to receive £20 million, with post-judgment interest at 10 percent per annum until fully paid. The court, however, rejected claims for pre-judgment interest and exemplary damages.
The suit, filed by human rights activist, Greg Onoh, demanded acknowledgment of liability and full reparations for the victims’ families.
Respondents included the British government, UK government, Secretary of State for the Foreign Office, head of the Commonwealth, as well as the Nigerian government and Attorney-General of the Federation.
Judge Onovo urged the Nigerian government to engage diplomatically with the UK within 60 days to ensure that justice is delivered and reparations are implemented.
The tragedy occurred at the Iva Valley coal mine, Enugu, where miners went on strike on November 1, 1949, demanding better wages and safer working conditions.
The British colonial authorities ordered the mine closed, but when miners resisted, FS Philip, the colonial Police Chief, reportedly commanded soldiers to open fire.
The massacre claimed the lives of 21 miners, including Sunday Anyasodo, Ani Oha, Andrew J. Obiekwe Okonkwo, Augustine Chiwetalu, Onoh Ugwu, Ngwu Offor, Ndunguba Eze, Okafor Agu, Livinus Ukachunwa, Jonathan Agu Ozoani, Moses Ikegbu Okoloha, Chukwu Ugwu, Thomas Chukwu, Simon Nwachukwu, Agu Alo, Ogbonnia Ani Chima, Nnaji Nwachukwu, William Nwaku, James Onoh Ekeowa, Felix Nnaji, and Ani Nwaekwe.
“These defenceless coal miners were only asking for better working conditions. They did not attack anyone, yet they were shot and killed,” Judge Onovo ruled.
The historic judgment is seen as a major victory for human rights in Nigeria, holding a foreign government accountable more than 70 years after the atrocity.
Meanwhile, Denge Josef Onoh, the Chairman of Forum of former members of the Enugu State House of Assembly and former Southeast spokesman to President Bola Tinubu, has stated that the judgment of the Enugu State High Court concerning the 1949 Iva Valley Massacre is not enforceable or binding on the United Kingdom government.
Onoh argued that a Nigerian court, including a State High Court, lacks jurisdiction to entertain claims against a foreign sovereign State such as the United Kingdom unless that state has expressly submitted to the court’s jurisdiction or waived its immunity.
He stated that such immunity is widely recognised and applied globally, including in the United Kingdom under the State Immunity Act 1978 and in Nigeria through common law and international norms.
“For any foreign judgment to be recognized or enforced in the United Kingdom, the issuing court must have had proper international jurisdiction over the defendant. A judgment obtained in breach of sovereign immunity would be regarded as a nullity by UK courts and would not be enforceable under private international law rules or any reciprocal enforcement regime.”
He said that the events of 1949 occurred under colonial rule when Nigeria was not a sovereign entity, post-independence, hence, such historical grievances are best addressed through diplomatic channels, bilateral negotiations, international human rights mechanisms, or proceedings instituted directly in the courts of the responsible state (as seen in other colonial-era claims).