A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Femi Falana has explained why Nigerians who suffered slave trade in Libya cannot claim damages from the North African country.
The popular human rights lawyer made this known in a statement released over the weekend.
He said that victims would have been able to seek redress from the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights sitting in Arusha, Tanzania.
However, he said this was impossible because Nigeria has refused to make a Declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the court in line with Article 34(6) of the Protocol establishing the African Court which provides that “At the time of the ratification of this Protocol or any time thereafter the State shall make a declaration accepting the competence of the court to receive petitions under Article 5(3) of this Protocol. The Court shall not receive any petition under Article 5(3) involving a state party which has not made such a declaration.”
Furthermore, he said that Nigeria colluded with Western powers led by the United States to oust Muammar Ghaddafi from power without considering her political and strategic interests in the Libyan crises.
The lawyer stressed that since the ousting of Ghaddafi, the country has been plunged into further crises, with no fewer than five “armed gangs” jostling for control of the country.
Falana added that Nigeria blindly supported the illegal resolution of the United Nations Security Council which authorised the invasion of Libya to effect a regime change.
He noted that while the “imperialism forces” led by the US now have unfettered access to Libya’s oil, Nigeria has nothing to show but slavery of her people.