The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States presided over by Justice Wilkins Wright has ordered the Federal Government to pay a victim of domestic violence, Ms. Sunday Mary the sum of N50 million.
The verdict was given in a case filed on behalf of Ms. Sunday by a non-governmental organization, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre and Gambian partner “Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa.”
The suit was filed in 2015 following a domestic violence perpetrated on Ms. Sunday by her fiancé, a Nigerian police officer in August 2012.
Reports said Mary, in 2012, had a heated argument with her fiancé, Isaac Gbanwuan, who brutally beat and poured a boiling pot of stew on her.
The incident left Mary with extreme burns which resulted in her deformation and incapacitation. She has not been able to work or go around freely on the streets ever since.
The complainants in the suit argued that the Nigerian state failed to effectively investigate the incident, prosecute and punish the perpetrator.
In its ruling in Abuja, the ECOWAS Court found Nigeria guilty of violation of Mary’s right to access to justice, and right to have her cause heard.
The Court ordered the State of Nigeria to pay Mary financial reparation amounting to N50 million.
Mary, who could not hold back her emotions following the pronouncement of the verdict, said,
“I have suffered so much pain since the incident happened, and had never known I would obtain 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.”
