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ECOWAS Court, Pan African Lawyers Union To Collaborate On Litigations And Enforcement of Judgments

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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

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Yobe: teenage fight at wedding turns deadly in Potiskum

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Yobe: teenage fight at wedding turns deadly in Potiskum

By: Zagazola Makama

A 17-year-old boy, Ishaku Idriss, has died following a violent clash among youths during a marriage ceremony in Garaganya village, Potiskum Local Government Area of Yobe State.

Police sources said the incident occurred on March 31, 2026, at about 10:00 p.m. during a wedding ceremony, when youths from Dagare and Yabel villages engaged in a physical confrontation.

According to sources , the altercation escalated after Adamu Suleh, 16, of Dagare village, allegedly assaulted Ishaku Idriss, 17, of Yabel village, with a stick following an instigation involving one Shuaibu Yusuf, 27, also of Yabel village.

The victim was later said to have retaliated by attacking Usman Inusa, 14, of Dagare village, who struck him on the head with a stick, causing him to collapse.

He was initially rushed to the State Specialist Hospital, Potiskum, before being transferred to Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu, where he was confirmed dead on April 4, 2026, at about 4:00 a.m.

Police authorities said the case was reported by the village head of Jumma’a Bogocho, Ahmadu Yusuf, who brought the matter to the Potiskum Police Division.

The suspects have been arrested, while investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Yobe: teenage fight at wedding turns deadly in Potiskum

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One abducted victim escapes as bandits kill cyclist, detonate IEDs in New-Bussa in Niger

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One abducted victim escapes as bandits kill cyclist, detonate IEDs in New-Bussa in Niger

By: Zagazola Makama

One of the four abducted family members in the recent bandit attack at Baban-Rami in Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State has escaped from captivity, security sources have said.

The sources identified the victims as Suwaiba Sahabi Buba Abdullahi, Khadija Sahabi Buba Abdullahi, Fatima Sahabi Abdullahi and Nafisa Sahabi Buba Abdullahi.

They said Nafisa Sahabi Buba Abdullahi had successfully escaped from the abductors, while efforts were ongoing to rescue the remaining victims unhurt.

The incident was a follow-up to an earlier attack in which the head of the family, Alhaji Sahabi Buba Abdullahi, was shot dead by suspected armed bandits.

In a related development, armed bandits reportedly detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along a bypass road near a damaged bridge in the Luma National Park forest axis of New-Bussa.

According to the sources, the attackers also shot dead a cyclist plying the route, while a truck driver travelling towards Wawa unknowingly drove over another IED, which exploded and damaged the vehicle.

The whereabouts of the truck driver were yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing this report.

Security operatives, including tactical teams and local vigilantes, have since been deployed to the area and are currently trailing the perpetrators.

Authorities said efforts were being intensified to secure the area, rescue victims and prevent further attacks.

One abducted victim escapes as bandits kill cyclist, detonate IEDs in New-Bussa in Niger

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CP Nasarawa tasks his personnel to hunt down the culprits of the recent killing of 11 in Udege

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CP Nasarawa tasks his personnel to hunt down the culprits of the recent killing of 11 in Udege

By: Bodunrin Kayode

The Commissioner of Police (CP), Nasarawa State Command, Shetima Mohammed, has ordered an intensive manhunt for all perpetrators of the heinous act which led to the death of 11 residents in Udege.

He has equally directed all tactical teams and investigative units to ensure the prompt identification of the killers and further prosecution when they are finally caught.

He gave the directive recently when he
visited Udege Development Area in Nasarawa council Area following the recent communal attack that resulted in loss of lives and destruction of property in the area.

During his visit to the affected communities of Akyawa and Udege Kasa on April 3, 2026, the CP expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident which claimed the lives of 11 residents and the further burning of several homes.

He commiserated with the families of the deceased and the entire community, assuring them of the Command’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that justice is served accordingly.

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of the same day, involved hoodlums from one side suspected to have carried out a reprisal attack over the alleged killing of two of their kinsmen.

A release signed by the police spokesperson Raman Nansel noted that in the course of the attack, 11 persons were killed, while about 50 homes were burnt in Akyawa while Udege Kasa lost only two residences.

To prevent any further breakdown of law and order, the CP has also directed the immediate reinforcement and sustained deployment of additional Police personnel, in synergy with the Military and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to provide adequate security and restore lasting peace in the area.

A stakeholders’ meeting was held during the visit, where the CP urged residents to remain calm, law-abiding, and cooperate with security agencies by providing credible information to support ongoing investigations.

“The Command reassured members of the public that normalcy has been restored to the affected communities, while proactive measures are in place to prevent any recurrence of violence.” Said the release.

CP Nasarawa tasks his personnel to hunt down the culprits of the recent killing of 11 in Udege

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