ECOWAS Community Court of Justice sitting in Lagos Nigeria has unequivocally dismissed the case filed by the Lawyers Alert Initiative for Protecting the Rights of Children, Women, and Indigent against the Federal Government of Nigeria. This dismissal was firmly based on a lack of jurisdiction due to the absence of identifiable victims.

‎Designated as Suit No: ECW/CCJ/APP/25/21, this case represents the Court’s inaugural judgment under the 2020 Practice Direction on Electronic Case Management and Virtual Hearings, a landmark advancement hailed for enhancing regional judicial efficiency.
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‎The Lawyers Alert Initiative—a prominent non-profit human rights organization headquartered in Makurdi, Benue State, and Abuja—sought a declaration from the Court that certain provisions of Nigeria’s Penal Code (1963) and Criminal Code (1961), specifically Sections 401, 405(1)(c), 405, 246, 224, and 250, operate as vagrancy laws permitting the arbitrary arrest and detention of vulnerable groups, including sex workers.
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‎However, in a decisive and unanimous ruling delivered by Hon. Justice Ricardo Goncalves, Hon. Justice Sengu M. Koroma, and Hon. Justice Edward Asante, the Court reaffirmed its jurisdiction over human rights violations in member states under Article 9(4) of its Protocol. Nonetheless, it concluded that the applicant failed to provide evidence of any specific or identifiable individuals who had suffered violations due to the contested laws.
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‎The submission presented by the applicant included general statistics and reports on petty offenses in Nigeria for 2022 and 2023. However, the Court found these materials insufficient, as they lacked sworn affidavits, judicial decisions, or news reports that could identify specific individuals subjected to prosecution or adversely affected by the challenged provisions.
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‎In its final order, the Court unambiguously dismissed the case in its entirety, asserting a clear lack of jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Both parties were directed to bear their own costs.