“No justice for nanga eboko crime victims”: law practitioners reveal
Over a week after the gruesome massacre of six members of the same family in Nanga Eboko, Upper Sanaga division of the Centre region, allegedly by a Niger national, the family of the victims say they just want justice to prevail at all cost even after it was announced on April 11 that the prime suspect, Mahaman Laouali, 32 years old, had committed suicide in detention at the Regional Directorate of the Central Judicial Police.
Speaking to a legal mind on the possibility for justice to be served when the suspect is dead, Barrister Agbor Nduku clarified that in such a context it will be impossible to seek justice or the criminal proceedings will automatically stop if it had begun.
“If you look at section 74 of the Cameroon penal code, it states that criminal responsibility is personal. That’s to say there is no way another person can pay for another one’s crime. If you go further to read section 62 (i)(a) of the criminal procedure code it gives you instances wherein a criminal action instituted can be terminated without further effect. An example of such instances is the death of the suspect of the Nanga Eboko killing. In this context, this accused person or prime suspect is dead so automatically the criminal action has to stop based on section 62 sub (I) sub (a) of the criminal procedure code and section 74 of the Cameroon penal code,” he explained.
Barrister Nkamwah Limen adds that the case can only continue if the deceased prime suspect had an accomplice or accomplices still alive who would be investigated, arrested and tried: “If there is none, the case automatically closes.”
The law practitioner, nevertheless says that the family of the victims can seek for damages.
“There is a possibility for the family of the victims to file a civil action against the successors of the deceased offender. Now they have to go to the civil court for damages. But the case is no longer criminal because the criminal action stopped based on the aforementioned criminal codes.”
He highlights this while underlining it will be somehow difficult to claim the damages since the deceased suspect was an expatriate. So far it still unclear if the family of the victims have decided to seek the court for damages under such tough circumstances.
