The British government has said it has not received any formal notification of a Nigerian court judgment ordering it to pay £420 million in compensation to the families of coal miners killed during a colonial-era incident in Enugu.
A UK government spokesperson told the BBC that, without official notice of the ruling, it could not comment on the matter.
According to reports monitored by Okay News, the judgment was delivered last Thursday by the Enugu State High Court, which awarded £20 million to each of the families of 21 coal miners killed during the Iva Valley shootings of November 1949. Justice Anthony Onovo ruled that the killings were unlawful and amounted to an extrajudicial violation of the victims’ right to life.
The suit was filed by human rights activist Greg Onoh, who sought a formal apology, acknowledgment of liability, and compensation from the British government and other respondents. The case revisits one of Nigeria’s darkest colonial episodes, when striking miners protesting poor working conditions were shot by colonial police, leaving at least 21 dead and several others injured.
