A Nigerian court has ordered the UK to pay compensation to families of 21 miners killed during a 1949 colonial crackdown in Enugu.
A Nigerian court has ordered the British government to pay $27m (£20m) to each family of 21 coal miners killed by colonial police during a strike in Enugu in 1949. Justice Anthony Onovo ruled the killings unlawful and an extrajudicial violation of the right to life, according to NAN.
“These defenceless coal miners were asking for improved work conditions… but yet were shot and killed,” Onovo said. The UK government said it had not been formally notified of the judgment and was not represented in court. Rights groups hailed the ruling as a milestone in colonial-era accountability.