A High Court in Nigeria has ordered the British government to pay £420 million in damages to the descendants of 21 coal miners extrajudicially killed by colonial police nearly eight decades ago.
The landmark ruling, delivered on Thursday by Mr Justice Anthony Onovo in Enugu, mandates a compensation of £20 million for each of the families of the victims. The deceased were among a group of workers at the Iva Valley mine who were shot by colonial authorities on 18 November 1949.
The 1949 massacre remains one of the most contentious episodes of British colonial rule in Nigeria. The miners had been engaged in a “sit-down” protest to demand improved working conditions and the payment of salary arrears. During the demonstration, police opened fire on the unarmed labourers, killing 21 and wounding a further 51.
While a colonial-era inquiry at the time claimed the police acted out of a fear of being “overwhelmed,” the incident sparked national outrage and became a primary catalyst for the Nigerian independence movement, which eventually saw the country gain sovereignty in 1960. Today, the slain miners are venerated as national heroes in the southeast of the country.
The civil suit was initiated by the prominent Nigerian human rights activist, Mazi Greg Onoh. Despite being served with the court processes, the British authorities reportedly declined to enter a formal defence or participate in the proceedings.
Speaking after the judgment, the lead counsel for the families, Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, stated that the legal team would now move to involve the Attorney General of the Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.
“We intend to initiate formal diplomatic steps toward compliance,” Mr Akinseye-George remarked, noting that the judgment serves as a long-overdue recognition of the “sanctity of human life” and the “historical injustices” perpetrated during the colonial era.
The ruling draws inevitable comparisons to the 2013 settlement in which the United Kingdom agreed to pay approximately £20 million to over 5,000 Kenyans who were victims of torture during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s. On that occasion, the British government expressed “sincere regrets” for the abuses committed.
London has yet to issue a formal response to this latest judgment from the Enugu High Court. Legal experts suggest that while enforcing a domestic Nigerian judgment against a sovereign foreign power presents significant diplomatic hurdles, the ruling adds substantial momentum to the growing global movement for colonial-era reparations across the Commonwealth.
