A High Court of Enugu State has ordered the British Government to pay £420 million in compensation to the families of 21 Nigerian coal miners killed by colonial officers at the Iva Valley Coal Mine in 1949.
Justice Anthony Onovo, delivering judgment on Thursday, ruled that the killings constituted an unlawful and extrajudicial violation of the miners’ right to life, describing the incident as a grave historical injustice for which the United Kingdom must be held accountable.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the court awarded £20 million to each victim’s family, amounting to £420 million in total, with post-judgment interest of 10 per cent per annum until full payment is made.
The Iva Valley massacre occurred on November 18, 1949, in Enugu, then the administrative capital of Nigeria’s Eastern Region under British colonial rule. The miners were protesting poor working conditions, wage disparities rooted in racial discrimination, and unpaid arrears. When management failed to address their grievances, the workers reportedly embarked on a go-slow protest and occupied the mine to resist a planned lockout.
During the protest, a British superintendent allegedly ordered colonial police officers to open fire on the unarmed miners, killing 21 people and injuring 51 others.
The deceased miners 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 compensation to the victims’ families.
The respondents included 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. No legal representation appeared for the British Government and some other foreign respondents at the hearing.
In his ruling, Justice Onovo dismissed claims of sovereign immunity, holding that Nigerian courts have jurisdiction to adjudicate grave historical human rights violations.
“These defenceless coal miners were demanding improved working conditions. They posed no violent threat to the authorities, yet they were shot and killed,” the judge said.
He ordered the British Government to issue unreserved written apologies to the victims’ families through their lawyers, with the apologies to be published in Nigeria’s Daily Sun, Daily Independent and The Punch, as well as in three major national newspapers in the United Kingdom. Proof of publication must be filed within 60 days, while full payment of the compensation must be made within 90 days.
Justice Onovo also faulted the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation for what he described as decades of inaction, ruling that they failed in their constitutional duty to seek justice for the victims.
He directed the Nigerian government to commence diplomatic engagement with the British Government within 60 days to ensure enforcement of the judgment and payment of reparations.
“The argument that Nigeria was under colonial rule at the time of the killings 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, saying it reinforces the principle that governments can be held accountable for human rights abuses regardless of when they occurred.
Akinseye-George said the ruling affirms that the right to life “transcends time, borders and changes in sovereignty,” adding that the court drew parallels with international precedents, including compensation paid by the UK to victims of abuses during Kenya’s Mau Mau uprising.
