*Demand $200b damages
By Emma Okereh and Ralph Ezepue
A coalition of legal professionals have dragged the People’s Republic of China to court over the negative effects of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The lawyers are demanding $200 billion as damages for the “loss of lives, economic strangulation, trauma, hardship, social disorientation, mental torture and disruption of the normal daily existence of people in Nigeria”, resulting from the pandemic.
This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the lead prosecutor, Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN).
Azinge’s law firm, Azinge and Azinge, is eading the legal processes, stressing that they had concluded pleadings for the class action against the Chinese government.
The statement added, “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 People’s Republic of China at the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
“The legal experts will be claiming damages to the tune of $200billion, the Chinese Government will be served through its Embassy in Nigeria.”
Azinge is currently a member of the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal London, representing Nigeria and Africa.
