The federal government has been dragged to the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by some aggrieved members of the oil producing community of the Niger Delta Region, asking the court to declare as unlawful and a violation of their fundamental right, the unilateral allocation of crude oil blocks to private Nigerians and their firms by the respondent.

The plaintiffs described the federal government’s action as a total disregard to rights of the people of the communities in whose lands the crude oil is located as entrenched in Article 21, 22 and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right (ACHPR), as well as Article 1 (1-3) of the United Nation’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 1 (1-3) and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

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