Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has approached the ECOWAS Court of Justice, seeking $10m in damages from the Federal Government over alleged violations of his fundamental rights during successive military regimes.
Falana, in a suit filed in Abuja, alleged that he was arrested, detained and subjected to other restrictions by government authorities during the military era in the 1980s and 1990s.
The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/30/2026, asks the regional court to declare the alleged actions unlawful and hold that they violated his rights to personal liberty, dignity, fair hearing, property and freedom of movement.
The senior lawyer is also asking the court to examine the alleged violations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and relevant ECOWAS legal instruments.
According to the application, Falana’s confrontation with the authorities began during his National Youth Service Corps programme in Oyo State between 1982 and 1983.
He alleged that he represented students of the University of Ibadan who were facing conspiracy and attempted murder charges following a dispute involving the institution’s vice-chancellor.
The lawyer further claimed that the NYSC authorities withheld his discharge certificate after he defended the students without obtaining official permission to do so.
Falana is asking the ECOWAS court to grant the reliefs sought, including the $10m compensation, over what he described in the suit as violations of his fundamental rights under regional and international human rights instruments.