A Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered a stay of execution of orders by the National Human Rights Commission, which awarded N135m to relatives and victims of the September 20, 2013 attack and killing of eight squatters in an uncompleted building in Apo, Abuja.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in an ex-parte ruling on June 27, also granted leave to the State Security Service to apply for an order of certiorari to quash the decisions and awards contained in the NHRC’s report on complaint No: C/2013/7908/HQ.

The judge ordered that the leave granted should apply as stay of execution of the orders and awards in the report “so that the proceedings in this matter are not subverted by any step that may be taken to seek to enforce or enforce the decision,” as captured by the report.

Justice Kolawole, in his ruling, directed the SSS to file its motion on notice and serve it on the respondents.

He ordered the respondents to respond within eight days and fixed July 9 as the return date.

The commission had, in its report released in April 2014, faulted the claim by the SSS and the Nigerian Army that the eight and 11 injured others were affected during the exchange of fire between security agents and suspected Boko Haram members.

The NHRC had in the case tagged, ‘Global Rights and 3 others vs. Federal Republic of Nigeria and 3 others’, ordered the Federal Government to, among others, pay a total of N135m as compensation to the victims.

The SSS was expected to pay N10m for each of those killed and N5m to each of the 11 injured survivors.

But the SSS said it was never invited or interrogated during the preliminary investigations conducted by the NHRC in respect to the incident.

It added that it was not given a copy of the petitions lodged by the Global Rights, Human Rights Law Office and National Association of Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association.

The SSS, through its application, is seeking to quash the report of the NHRC on the grounds that the Commission was biased against it throughout the proceedings of the public inquiry in that it was not given any fair hearing during the preliminary investigation.


http://www.punchng.com/news/apo-killings-court-halts-n135m-payment-to-victims/