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ECOWAS Court, Pan African Lawyers Union To Collaborate On Litigations And Enforcement of Judgments
ECOWAS Court, Pan African Lawyers Union To Collaborate On Litigations And Enforcement of Judgments
By: Michael Mike
The ECOWAS Court of Justice and the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) have agreed on a collaboration on litigations and enforcement of the judgments.
This was disclosed at a two day seminar organised by PALU with support from the Rahul Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the weekend in Abuja.
The programme officer of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Praise-God Joseph, said there is a collaboration between ECOWAS Court and PALU on how litigants can access the court as they hope to create more awareness on the need for member states to enforce the judgements of the court.
She said: “First is for them to understand that these courts they are the ones who accepted their jurisdiction and established them knowing the importance of this court and also knowing that this court provides decisions which are binding so it is upon the states to implement them and also the last thing that we have seen as an initiative towards ensuring they implement the judgment is to provide advocacy about the decisions that we get from this regional court and also sensitising our member states to know these decisions and also to find initiatives towards implementing the decisions.”
She added that: “Through this publication and also the two days seminar is to ensure that litigants have been equipped with the knowledge of the regional court that means it’s jurisdiction and procedures of accessing the court, but also understand how they can advocate towards the implementation of the decisions rendered by the regional court and through this we are able to strategize and discuss on what initiatives in case they call us we can implement in our respective organisations and also we can collaborate as partners towards enforcement of decisions of regional courts. And on our collaboration with the ECOWAS Court of Justice we have been working together through different strategic litigations but also mostly through capacity buildings and conferences where we aim to build key stakeholders knowledge about the court but also collaborations on how we as litigants and strategic litigants can access the ECOWAS court mostly
She also spoke on PALU and it’s importance, stating that: @Pan African Lawyers union deals with different issues and most of our activities are around strategic litigation so through this strategic litigation we do capacity building to litigants but also we do publications so as to help litigants in accessing justice through regional court. So we organised a two-day seminar which aims for capacity building of participants, litigants, CSOs, NHRIS across the region with the focus of those litigates at the ECOWAS court of Justice.”
The programme officer of Rahul institute for human rights and humanitarian law, Gilford Kimathi, said Rahul sponsored the training because of its interest in building capacity of litigants to promote justice.
*We support access to Justice so we support the Pan African lawyers union in its work that supports both the sub-regional bodies that are working on human rights as well as building the capacity of lawyers especially those that are litigating these bodies.
“We hope to have the litigants have increased awareness and therefore strengthen their capacity to engage with the ECOWAS court.
“One of the challenges that we have is that there is limited awareness of these bodies by many of the advocates we use to have many other challenges like the low levels of implementation of decisions that emanate from those bodies amongst other challenges as you may know therefore our expectation is that through the seminar that was organized by PALU as well as the publication the menu that has been developed by PALU the litigants will be more capacitated to be able to litigate at the ECOWAS court.” he added
The Registrar Appeal, Arbitration and Enforcement, ECOWAS Court of Justice, Mr. Gaye Sowe, at the sidelines said, the court has gotten an approval to be at the next ECOWAS Council of Ministers meeting to present it with their challenges and possible solutions. “For the first time the court is going to meet with the council of Ministers which has never happened before. We will be at the meeting and make known to them the challenges we face aa a regional court and proffer possible solutions.”,
Earlier in his presentation he disclosed that the court has so far made over 390 judgments since inception and that 132 cases against member state are yet to be enforced while while 14 has so far been enforced and that the other over 200 judgements are not enforceable.
ECOWAS Court, Pan African Lawyers Union To Collaborate On Litigations And Enforcement of Judgments
Troops storm bandit leader’s camp in Zamfara, neutralise 20, destroy stronghold
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of the 8 Division, Nigerian Army, operating under Sector 2 of Operation FANSAN YAMMA, have stormed the camp of a notorious bandit leader, Gwaska Dan Karmi, in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, neutralising 20 terrorists and destroying the stronghold.
A military source told Zagazola Makama that the decisive, well-coordinated offensive followed credible intelligence that over 100 bandits had converged at the camp to plan coordinated attacks on communities and logistics movements.
According to the source, the troops, supported by the Nigerian Air Force, the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and local vigilantes, conducted week-long surveillance before moving to intercept the terrorists.
“Contact was established on Jan. 31, 2026, as the terrorists advanced. They engaged the troops in a fierce firefight and attempted a flanking manoeuvre, but this was repelled by superior firepower,” the source said.
He said 20 terrorists were neutralised in the encounter, while several others fled with gunshot wounds. Follow-up operations, the source added, were ongoing to assess further casualties and recover additional items.
The raid yielded significant recoveries, including assorted weapons and ammunition, bicycles, food supplies, medical drugs, clothing, detergents and other logistics materials.
“The Gwaska Dan Karmi camp was completely destroyed,” the source said.
He noted that troops remained highly motivated, with combat efficiency assessed as strong and unwavering.
Troops storm bandit leader’s camp in Zamfara, neutralise 20, destroy stronghold
Army troops, police rescue abducted victim in Zamfara
By: Zagazola Makama
Army troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA, in collaboration with the Zamfara State Police Command, have rescued an abducted man in Tsafe Local Government Area of the state.
Sources said that the incident occurred on Jan. 29, when armed bandits invaded the residence of Abdullahi Isah Nagari on the outskirts of Tsafe town and abducted him to an unknown destination.
According to the source, troops under Operation FANSAN YAMMA, in collaboration with the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Tsafe Division promptly mobilised to launch a coordinated rescue operation.
“During a thorough search of the surrounding bushes, the victim was successfully located and rescued. He was found tied to a tree with a machete cut injury on his hand,” the source said.
The sources added that the victim was immediately taken to the General Hospital, Tsafe, where he was receiving medical attention.
The source said efforts were ongoing to track down and arrest the perpetrators, while security patrols had been intensified in the area to prevent further occurrences.
Army troops, police rescue abducted victim in Zamfara
U.S. official heads to Mali to reset ties, boost Sahel cooperation
By: Zagazola Makama
A senior official of the United States Government, Nick Checker, is travelling to Bamako to convey Washington’s respect for Mali’s sovereignty and explore a new course in bilateral relations between the two countries.
This is according to a statement issued by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs.
The statement said Checker, a Senior Bureau Official at the State Department, would engage Malian authorities on ways to move past previous policy missteps and rebuild cooperation.
It added that the United States was looking forward to discussing next steps for enhancing U.S.–Mali relations, particularly in the areas of security and economic development.
“The United States also plans to consult with other governments in the region, including Burkina Faso and Niger, on shared security and economic interests,” the statement said.
It noted that the visit underscored Washington’s desire to strengthen engagement with Sahelian countries amid ongoing regional security and political challenges.
The Bureau said the discussions would focus on practical ways to promote stability, respect for sovereignty and mutually beneficial cooperation across the Sahel.
U.S. official heads to Mali to reset ties, boost Sahel cooperation
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Troops storm bandit leader’s camp in Zamfara, neutralise 20, destroy stronghold
Army troops, police rescue abducted victim in Zamfara
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