By Ahmad Deedat Zakari
The children of the late Mrs Kudirat Abiola have sued the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari at the ECOWAS Court of Justice sitting at Abuja over the assassination of their mother. The deceased’s children sought different reliefs from the court and a compensation of ten million dollars.
Mrs Kudirat Abiola was allegedly murdered on June 4, 1996, by the military junta of General Sani Abacha while her husband, Moshood Abiola, famously known as MKO Abiola, was in prison at the behest of the Nigerian government
According to reports, Khafilia Abiola, Moriam Abiola and Hadi Abiola are sueing for themselves and on behalf of the other children of the deceased
The Daily Reality gathered that the suit filed on Tuesday and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/62/2022 was filed on their behalf by human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.
The plaintiffs are challenging the “violation of the fundamental human rights to life and dignity of human person of the late Mrs Abiola.”
However, as at the time of filing this report, the court is yet to fix a date for hearing of the case
The Plaintiffs are seeking the following reliefs from the ECOWAS Court:
- A DECLARATION that the killing of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola by the armed agents of the defendant in Lagos on June 4, 1996 is a violation of her rights to life and dignity guaranteed by articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and articles.
- A DECLARATION that the refusal of the defendant to charge Sergeant Barnabas Jebila (a.k.a. Rogers) Mohammed Abdul (a.k.a Katako) and Aminu Mohammed Sergeant Barnabas Jebila with murder for the brutal killing of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola in Lagos on June 4, 1996 is a violation of her rights to life and dignity guaranteed by articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and articles.
- AN ORDER directing the defendant to charge Sergeant Barnabas Jebila (a.k.a. Rogers) Mohammed Abdul (a.k.a Katako) and Aminu Mohammed with murder for the brutal killing of Mrs Kudirat Abiola in Lagos on June 4, 1996.
- AN ORDER directing the defendant to pay the sum of $10 million to the Applicants as compensation for the unlawful killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.”
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had on June 6, 2018 changed the Democracy Day annual celebration from May 29 to June 12. This was done to honour the sacrifices of the Abiola’s family and commemorate the democratic election of MKO Abiola on June 12, 1993.
