- 3 October 2023
Makeni Generator Protest… ECOWAS Sets for Ruling
The ECOWAS Court has slated January 2024 for the judgement regarding the Makeni generator protest.
Justices of the ECOWAS Court, comprising of Justice Edward Asante, Hon. Justice Gberi-Be Ouattara and Hon. Justice Sengu Koroma, has intimated that the ECOWAS Court of Justice stands ready to deliver judgement on 25th January, 2024 in a suit No. ECW/CCJ/APP/36/22.
According to sources, the said case was filed by one Hassan Kargbo and seven others against the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Since August 2022 when the matter was filed, the Plaintiff Counsel had served the respondent, Sierra Leone, with both the Originating and Default Judgement Applications, the court registrar verified.
Regardless of the fact that the suit had been filed, Sierra Leone Law Officers Department vehemently failed to enter any defence.
As a result, a request for default judgement was filed by Edmund Foley and Oludayo Fagbemi, the lawyers representing the plaintiff in the said matter.
During the recent hearing on 29th September, this year, Sierra Leone was unavailable from court representation, which prompted Counsel Fagbemi to proceed with his argument stressing that the Respondent State must be held accountable for violations of the right to life, security of person and the right to remedy, steaming from the protests that occurred in Makeni on 17-18 July, 2020, following the removal of a generator.
‘Law enforcement agents deployed to quell the protests had fired at unarmed civilians resulting in six fatalities and numerous injuries, none of those shot were armed or posed a threat to others,’ said Counsel Fagbemi.
According to Counsel Fagbemi, autopsy results presented in court confirmed the cause of death as gunshot wounds.
Citing legal precedent to support his arguments, Counsel Fagbemi contended that the shooting did not aim to protect lives and properties, thus violating the right to life.
Fagbemi disclosed that the state’s failure to investigate and prosecute the offenders constitutes further violations of the right to life and security of the person.