An Enugu state high court has adjourned to April 15th for hearing in suit No: E/909/2024 challenging the extra judicial execution of 21 coal miners at Iva Valley, Enugu, by agents of the British colonial government on the 18th of November 1949.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, Lead Counsel to the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. N.R Chiude prayed the court presided over by Justice A O Onovo for time within which to file a reply having just been briefed on the matter.
But the lead prosecution counsel, Prof. Yemi Akinsheyi George (SAN) didn’t object to the plea.
Recall that on the 12th of November 2024, the High Court had granted leave to the applicant to proceed with the enforcement of the fundamental rights of the deceased victims. The Court also authorized service of the originating processes on the respondents.
Meanwhile, on the 13th of February 2025, when the substantive application was called up for hearing, all the respondents were yet to file a rejoinder. Counsel to the Federal Government asked for more time. Consequently the Court adjourned to 15th April 2025 for definite hearing.
Respondents/Defendants in this suit are, The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), United Kingdom, the British Government, The Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, as well as the Head of the Commonwealth.
The plaintiff, Mazi Greg Nwachukwu Onoh is contending that the deliberate and excessive use of lethal force by colonial police against unarmed and defenseless miners, who were lawfully demanding fair wages from their British employers, constitutes a grave violation of the right to life as guaranteed under both domestic and international law applicable at the time.
That the indiscriminate execution of these miners amounts to an egregious act of state-sanctioned murder, extrajudicial killing, and a flagrant abuse of human rights.
The plaintiff further argued that the massacre was unjustified, unlawful, and grossly disproportionate response to a peaceful industrial action. The use of state apparatus to suppress legitimate labor grievances not only violated the legal framework in force at the time but also constituted torture, cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment, which was expressly forbidden under prevailing laws within the British colonial administration.
RELIEFS SOUGHT
The plaintiff is seeking the following reliefs:
An unequivocal acknowledgment of liability by the respondents for the wrongful and unlawful execution of the 21 coal miners.
A formal apology from the British Government for the extrajudicial killings.
Comprehensive compensation for the families and dependents of the deceased miners for the irreversible loss inflicted by the British colonial administration.
A judicial declaration affirming that the massacre was a gross violation of the right to life and an egregious abuse of state power.
A binding order compelling the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria (4th Respondent) to initiate diplomatic engagement with the British Government to secure redress, in accordance with the Magna Carta 1215 established fundamental principles of justice.
And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which enshrined the right to life and protection from arbitrary state violence.
This case represents a landmark legal action aimed at holding both the British Government and the Nigerian authorities accountable for their roles in failing to provide justice for one of the most heinous massacres in colonial African history. The outcome will be a defining precedent in post-colonial justice, state liability for extrajudicial killings, and the enforcement of fundamental human rights violations.
