a legal wrong, there is a remedy. He cited Nigeria cases of BELLO VS.
ATTORNEY –GENERAL OF OYO STATE (1986) J NWLR 528, NEMI
VS. ATTORNEY- GENERAL OF LAGOS STATE &ANOR (1996) 6
NWLR (P 452) C A 42.
2. That the death and injuries caused the Applicants are in contravention of
Articles 4,5 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
3. That the action of the Defendant(s) violated Resolutions 2,3,4, and 5 of the
Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement
Officials adopted by the Eighth UN Congress on the prevention of crime
and the Treatment of offenders, adopted at Havana, Cuba in August 27th to
September 7th 1990 and Articles 2 and 5 of the Code of conduct for Law
Enforcement Officials adopted by General Assembly Resolution 34/169 of
17th December, 1979.They argued that by these provisions which bind the
Defendant, the agents of the Defendant ought to use reasonable force in the
execution of their operation. They ought to have used non-lethal force in
incapacitating members of BOKO HARAM in the circumstances leading
to this application.
4. That even though the Defendant’s agents argued before the Senate
Committee that they were fired at and shot back in retaliation, they ought
to have known by their intelligence gathering that there were civilians
occupying the said building. They also asserted that there is no evidence of
used canisters by alleged members of the BOKO HARAM to prove the
“heavy gunfire” as contained by the Defendant’s agents in their press
release forming the fulcrum of the Defendant’s defence.
5. The Applicants further opined that in international law as evidenced by the
basic rules of engagement referred to in (iii) above, the use of firearm is an
extreme measure that should not be applied against Children and, if used at
all, it should be in extreme situation only; like where the suspect offers
armed resistance or otherwise jeopardizes the lives of others. The agents of
the Defendant (originally 2nd and 3rd Defendants) alleged they were shot at
first and that they recovered a magazine from the site of the raid. None of
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