Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has advised the Christian Association of Nigerian, CAN, to demand the sum of N300million which they have paid to kidnappers as ransom money.
Falana made this known in reaction to claims by CAN chairman in Kaduna, Joseph Hagan, who stated that the association has spent up N300million in rescuing about 500 members of theirs from the grip of kidnappers.
According to Falana, CAN need to demand for the money from government whose responsibility is to protect the citizens.
Falana said , “ CAN is entitled to collect that money from the government because it is the duty of the government to provide security for the people . ”
Citing a similar issue in 2011 on a judgment of the court of the Economic Community of West African States, he said, “In 2011 , following the political violence that led to the killing of several people in many states in the North , we approached the ECOWAS court on behalf of a widow and she was awarded damages of N10 m.
“ The position of the court is that the government failed in its responsibilities to prevent armed thugs from killing the breadwinner of the family . The same court has also awarded damages against the government of Ghana in another case for not investigating the circumstances of the death of a Nigerian teenager.
“ In both cases , the court did not find the government directly liable for the killings but the government failed in its suit to investigate and bring the culprits to justice . ”