Nigerian Government to pay N88 billion compensation to Biafra civil war victims

The Federal Government has agreed to pay N88 billion as compensation to Biafra victims of the Nigeria civil war 47 years after the war ended.

The compensation adopted by the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice on Monday  as consent judgment showed that N50 billion will go directly to the victims of the war in eleven affected states in Southeast, south-south and part of north central regions.The remaining N38 billion will go for the evacuation of abandoned bombs and other lethal weapons and construction of schools, courts, churches and mosque among others in the affected areas.

In the consent judgment read by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke, the federal government is expected to pay the N50 billion into the United Bank of Africa (UBA) account with number 1018230076 belonging to Chief Noel Agwuocha Chukwukadibia, the nominated counsel for the war victims.

The N38 billion is expected to be paid into another UBA account with number 1016296801 belonging to Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited for RSB Holdings Nigeria Ltd and Deminers Concept Nigeria Ltd who are expected to evacuate all the abandoned bombs and other dangerous weapons in the farmlands, schools, churches and mosque of the war victims and to also carry out construction works.

The federal government is also expected to by the consent judgment establish a National Mine Action Centre in Owerri, Imo State for victims in the southeast region.

In order to ensure transparent and accountability, the federal government will also set up a Special Purpose Vehicle that will comprise of all necessary stakeholders in the terms of settlement.

The consent judgment further indicated that medical experts employed on behalf of the federal government to identify true victims of the war, acknowledged that 685 persons were selected and classified as survivors while 493 of them including those who sued the government were confirmed as victims of either landmines or other dangerous military ordinance including locally fabricated weapons and confirmed to be entitled to compensation.

The judgment further acknowledged that a total of 17,000 bombs were recovered in the war ravaged communities and destroyed by RSB Holdings Ltd and Deminers Concept Nigeria Ltd, while a total of 1,317 bombs are still in the stockpile located at the Mine Action Centre, Owerri, Imo State in addition to large quantities of live bombs that still liter in communities of the war victims.

Government has undertaken to remove and destroy without further delay all the stockpiles bombs at the Nigerian Mine Action Centre.

Representatives of the victims of the Nigerian civil war, including the 493 victims enumerated by the Federal Ministry of Defence sued the federal government before the ECOWAS court in 2012 demanding N100 billion and another order of the court compelling government to clear and destroy all by post-civil war bombs and other dangerous weapons of war abandoned in their various communities and farmland since 1970.

Federal government opted for out-of-court settlement.