JUSTICE AT LAST!
NIGERIAN Woman, MARY SUNDAY Suffering Multiple Burns from Temperamental Police Fiancé wins N50million ($138,000) damages against Nigeria
…Akwa Ibom lady faces Deformation and Incapacitation
*ECOWAS Court orders Federal Government of Nigeria to pay the victim of domestic violence immediately
* Her fiancé, a Nigerian Police Officer, Isaac Gbanwuan, now married to another woman, brutally beat her up, picked up a boiling pot of stew and poured it on her in Lagos following a heated argument
* Still in Pains, extreme burns, lost ears, and has not been able work or walk freely on the streets, as a result of the burns on her body
BY KELVIN OGBEICHE/CRIME REPORTER, ABUJA
The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Court, a regional organisation awards victim N50 million damages for Domestic violence, claiming Nigeria denied her access to justice
For not giving her access to justice, the Economic Community of West African States, Court of Justice has ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria to pay a victim of domestic violence, Mary Sunday, the sum of N50 million as damages.
Domestic violence was inflicted on her by Gbanwuan, in August 2012 in Lagos following a heated argument. Eye witness account that the fiancé who brutally beat her up, reportedly picked up a boiling pot of stew and poured it on her.
Consequently, Mary from Akwa Ibom State, suffered extreme burns, lost her ears, and has not been able work or walk freely on the streets, as a result of the burns on her body which has resulted in deformation and incapacitation.
The Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre and its Gambian partner, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, went to the ECOWAS Court in August 2005 on her behalf.
In the case with suit No. ECW/CCJ/APP/26/15 WARDC & IHRDA (on behalf of Mary Sunday) vs Federal Republic of Nigeria, the complainants alleged that Nigerian government failed to effectively investigate the incident, prosecute and punish the perpetrator of the violations.
It was allegedly reported that the man who perpetrated the crime was using his influence in the police to cover up his tracks and walked freely on the streets. He has moved on with another woman and they have since married.
But delivering its verdict on Thursday May 17 2018 in Abuja, the three-man panel led by Justice Wilkins Wright (Presiding Judge), the ECOWAS Court found Nigeria guilty of violating Mary’s right to access to justice, and right to have her case heard.
The Court however exonerated Nigeria saying it did not violate her right to freedom from discrimination and gender-based violence. The ECOWAS Court therefore ordered Nigeria to pay Mary Sunday financial reparation amounting to N50 million (about $138,000 US). The judgment was upheld by two other judges, Justice Jerome Traore and Justice Alioune Sall.
Elated and in emotion-laden response to the verdict, following the pronouncement, Mary said, “I have suffered so much pain since the incident happened, and had never known I will get justice someday. I don’t know how to thank the lawyers who took it upon themselves to give me hope and assist me in seeking justice.”
The Executive Directors of WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi and her IHRDA counterpart, Gaye Sowe, commended the decision of the ECOWAS Court which they describe as “a progressive and important jurisprudence for the promotion and protection of women’s rights in Nigeria, the West Africa sub-region and Africa as a whole.”
