More than seven decades after the tragic killing of Nigerian coal miners by British colonial forces, the Enugu State High Court has delivered a historic judgment ordering the United Kingdom to pay £420 million in damages to the families of 21 victims of the 1949 Iva Valley massacre.
In his ruling delivered on Thursday, the presiding judge, Anthony Onovo, held that the deaths of the miners were unlawful and constituted an extrajudicial violation of their right to life.
Beyond monetary compensation, the court also mandated the British government to issue a formal apology to the victims’ families, both through their legal representatives and by publishing the apology in national newspapers in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
Under the judgment, each affected family is entitled to £20 million, with the court approving post-judgment interest at a rate of 10 per cent per annum until full payment is made. However, the court declined requests for pre-judgment interest and exemplary damages.
The case was instituted by human rights activist Greg Onoh, who sought a declaration of liability and comprehensive reparations for the families of the slain miners. Those listed as respondents in the suit included the British government, the UK government, the Secretary of State for the Foreign Office, the Head of the Commonwealth, as well as the Nigerian government and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
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Justice Onovo further directed the Nigerian government to commence diplomatic engagement with the United Kingdom within 60 days to ensure the enforcement of the judgment and the delivery of reparations.
The events that gave rise to the suit date back to November 1, 1949, at the Iva Valley coal mine in Enugu, when miners embarked on a strike to press for improved wages and safer working conditions. The strike escalated after British colonial authorities ordered the closure of the mine. When the miners resisted the directive, the colonial Police Chief, FS Philip, was said to have ordered soldiers to open fire on the crowd.
The incident left 21 miners dead, among them 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.
In condemning the killings, Justice Onovo stated: “These defenceless coal miners were only asking for better working conditions. They did not attack anyone, yet they were shot and killed.”
The ruling has been widely described as a milestone for human rights advocacy in Nigeria, marking a rare instance in which a foreign government has been held legally accountable for colonial-era abuses committed on Nigerian soil.
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