At the hearing, no legal representation appeared for the British Government and some other foreign respondents.
A High Court of Enugu State has ordered the British government to pay £420million as compensation to the families of 21 Nigerian coal miners who were killed by British colonial officers at the Iva Valley Coal Mine, Enugu, in 1949.
Justice Anthony Onovo, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, held that the killing of the miners amounted to an unlawful and extrajudicial violation of their right to life and described the incident as a grave historical injustice for which the British Government must be held accountable.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the court directed that £20million be paid to the family of each of the 21 slain miners, bringing the total compensation to £420million, with post-judgment interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum until the full amount is paid.
The massacre occurred on November 18, 1949, at the Iva Valley Coal Mine in Enugu, then the administrative capital of the Eastern Region of British-administered Nigeria. The miners were protesting poor working conditions, racial discrimination in wages and unpaid arrears.
After management ignored their demands, the workers reportedly embarked on a go-slow protest and occupied the mine to prevent a lockout. During the protest, a British superintendent allegedly ordered colonial police to open fire on the unarmed workers, killing 21 miners and injuring 51 others.
The victims were identified as Sunday Anyasodo, Ani Oha, Andrew J. Obiekwe Okonkwo, Augustine Chiwetalu, Onoh Ugwu, Ngwu Offor, Ndunguba Eze, Okafor Agu, Livinus Ukachunwa, Jonathan Agu Ozoani, Moses Ikegbu Okoloha, Chukwu Ugwu, Thomas Chukwu, Simon Nwachukwu, Agu Alo, Ogbonnia Ani Chima, Nnaji Nwachukwu, William Nwaku, James Onoh Ekeowa, Felix Nnaji and Ani Nwaekwe.
The suit, marked E/909/2024, was filed by human rights activist, Mazi Greg Onoh, who asked the court to compel the British Government to accept liability for the massacre, issue a formal apology and pay comprehensive compensation to the victims’ families.
The respondents were the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the British Government, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Head of the Commonwealth Government of the United Kingdom.
At the hearing, no legal representation appeared for the British Government and some other foreign respondents.
In his judgment, Justice Onovo rejected claims of sovereign immunity and affirmed that Nigerian courts have jurisdiction to adjudicate grave historical human rights abuses.
“These defenseless coal miners were asking for improved work conditions. They were not embarking on any violent action against the authorities, yet they were shot and killed,” the judge said.
He ordered the British Government to issue unreserved written apologies to the families of the victims through their counsel, with the apologies to be published in Nigeria’s Daily Sun, Daily Independent and The Punch newspapers, as well as in three major national newspapers in the United Kingdom.
Proofs of publication must be filed in court within 60 days, while the compensation must be fully paid within 90 days of the judgment.
Justice Onovo further held that the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation had failed in their constitutional duty to pursue justice for the victims, describing their decades-long inaction as a dereliction of responsibility.
He directed the Nigerian government to commence diplomatic engagement with the British Government within 60 days to ensure the enforcement of the judgment and the payment of reparations.
“The argument that Nigeria was under colonial rule when the killings were committed is hereby struck out,” the judge ruled.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the applicants, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, and P.N. Agazie, described the decision as historic and far-reaching.
They said the ruling sends a strong message that governments must be held accountable for human rights abuses, regardless of when they occurred.
“This ruling represents a significant milestone in the pursuit of historical accountability and justice for colonial-era violations,” Akinseye-George said. “It affirms that the right to life transcends time, borders and changes in sovereignty.”
The lawyers added that the court drew persuasive parallels with international precedents, including the compensation paid by the United Kingdom to victims of abuses during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, underscoring the continuing obligation of states to provide redress for serious human rights violations.