Key Points

• ECOWAS Court finds 16-year detention without trial unlawful.

• Nigeria ordered to pay N20 million in damages.

• Court rules detention violated multiple human rights laws.

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the immediate release of Moses Abiodun, a Nigerian man detained without trial for 16 years.

The court found that his continued imprisonment violated multiple fundamental rights.

In a Thursday judgment, a three-judge panel ruled that detaining Abiodun without filing charges amounted to anticipatory punishment.

It breached his right to liberty under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Judge Sengu Mohamed Koroma, who led the panel, declared the detention unlawful. The other panel members were Gbéri-bè Ouattara and Edward Amoako Asante.

They said Abiodun was never tried or convicted, even after being remanded by a Lagos Magistrate Court in March 2009.

ECOWAS Court orders Nigeria to release detainee immediately

Abiodun filed his complaint in 2022, claiming that SARS officers arrested him in 2008. Initially held without charge for five months, he remained in custody based on a remand order. Sixteen years later, he still faced no formal charges.

The Nigerian government challenged the case, questioning the remand order’s authenticity. But the ECOWAS Court affirmed its authority to hear the matter.

After reviewing the evidence, it ruled that the extended detention breached international human rights standards.

The judgment emphasized that denying someone a fair and timely trial is a severe violation. It also said such detention infringes on freedom of movement and constitutes degrading treatment.

Prolonged detention raises alarm over police brutality

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, once tasked with fighting violent crime, became notorious for abuses. Its unlawful arrests and extrajudicial killings triggered the #EndSARS protests in 2020.

Abiodun’s ordeal adds to the record of human rights violations under SARS. The ECOWAS Court has ruled against Nigeria in several related cases, including one in 2024 where it awarded compensation to a victim of police torture.

This ruling underscores growing pressure on the Nigerian government to reform its policing and criminal justice systems.

As more victims speak out, courts across West Africa are holding governments accountable.