Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 16 others have dragged the federal government before the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja, seeking an order to compel the Muhammadu Buhari administration to name and prosecute persons involved in the operations of illegal oil pipelines between 2001 and 2022.
The plaintiffs asked the court to order the government to recover any proceeds of crime and to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of the people of Niger Delta that have continued to suffer the effects of oil theft by non-state actors.
The suit was filed by SERAP, Chief Eric Doo, (who sued for himself as a leader of the Goi Community in Gokana local government area of Rivers State, and on behalf of the Goi Community), and 15 other concerned Nigerians.
They sought an order directing the defendant to pay adequate monetary compensation of $500 million to the victims of these crimes and human rights violations within the Niger Delta region and any other forms of reparation that the court may deem fit to grant.
The plaintiffs further prayed the court for a declaration that everyone in the Niger Delta is entitled to the internationally-recognised human rights to an adequate standard of living, to life and human dignity, to a clean and healthy environment; to wealth and natural resources, to human dignity, and economic and social development.
