In a fashion with the United States lawyers who sued China for trillions of dollars in damages, a coalition of Nigerian legal experts have also filed a class action suit against the Peoples Republic of China over the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic effect on Nigerians.
They are demanding $200 billion as damages for the “loss of lives, economic strangulation, trauma, hardship, social disorientation, mental torture and disruption of normal daily existence of people in Nigeria.”
A statement by the lead counsel, Prof. Epiphany Azinge SAN, whose firm, Azinge and Azinge, is championing the action, said they had concluded pleadings for the class action against the Chinese government.
Azinge is a former Director-General of the Nigeria Institute of Legal Studies (NIALS) and a current member of the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal London, representing Nigeria and Africa.
He said: “The team of legal experts planned a two phase line of action-: first is with the federal high court of Nigeria and secondly to persuade the government of Federal Republic of Nigeria to institute a state action against the Peoples Republic of China at the International Court of Justice at the Hague
“The legal experts will be claiming damages to the tune of 200billion dollars the Chinese Government will be served through its Embassy in Nigeria.”
*NOTE: We, in this platform, must admit that we are not good in arithmetic or mathematics, but, if these lawyers and the Plaintiffs or Claimants in the suit are representing the entire 200 million Nigerians, how much are they asking the court to award as damages in favour of each Nigerian assuming the court grants the whole $200 billion? $1,000 per each Nigerian?
We think that amount is too small and will be making Nigerians far too cheap.
Nevertheless, we thank them for their efforts, provided they are not suing for their own benefits only.