ECOWAS Court orders FG to probe 1978 seizure of company shares, awards ₦5m compensation

The ECOWAS Court of Justice sitting in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria to investigate the 1978 seizure of shares belonging to a 94-year-old Nigerian, Mr Kolawole Koiki, in the New Nigeria Salt Company Ltd, carried out under the military government led by Olusegun Obasanjo.

The regional court also directed the Federal Government to pay ₦5 million in compensation to Koiki for violating his right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time, as guaranteed under Article 7(1)(d) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory.

In addition, the court ordered the Federal Government to take all necessary steps to ensure the prompt hearing and determination of Koiki’s complaint pending before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The judgment followed a suit filed by Koiki against the Federal Government over the prolonged failure of the NHRC to conclude proceedings on a complaint he lodged in 2010. The complaint concerns the seizure of his shares in the New Nigeria Salt Company Ltd in 1978, under a law that barred courts from entertaining challenges to the takeover.

The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/46/21, was instituted on Koiki’s behalf by human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana. It argued that the NHRC’s failure to conclude investigations into the matter violated Koiki’s fundamental right to a fair hearing under the African Charter.

In its judgment delivered on November 17, 2025, the court noted that Koiki owned 216,000 out of 480,000 shares, representing 46 per cent equity, in the company incorporated in 1973. The court observed that despite initiating investigations, the NHRC failed to issue any report or determination on the complaint for several years.

While the Federal Government argued that the delay was due to the dissolution of the NHRC Governing Council between 2015 and 2021, the court held that the responsibility lay with the state to ensure that judicial and quasi-judicial bodies function effectively.

The court ruled that the six-year delay caused by the government’s failure to reconstitute the NHRC Governing Council was inexcusable and amounted to a breach of Koiki’s right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time.

Consequently, the court awarded ₦5 million as general damages and ordered the Federal Government to ensure that Koiki’s complaint before the NHRC is heard and determined without further delay.