Court orders NNPC to pay accident victim N10.6million

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to pay N10.6million to a victim of an accident resulting from road blockage in front of the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja.

Delivering judgment, the judge, Babatunde Quadri, ruled that NNPC was negligent in blocking the highway with concrete barriers without road signs as required by law.

The judgment was delivered in favour of a traditional ruler, Eze Anika.

Mr Anika alleged in his suit that his Peugeot 406 with registration number DP 41 EKY was damaged beyond repairs in 2012 due to the unlawful blockage.

Concrete barriers were mounted around various major government buildings in Abuja about that time because of heightened Boko Haram attacks in the federal capital.

But Mr Quadri, in his judgment, on Monday, rejected NNPC’s claim that the Federal Government through the National Security Adviser (NSA) was responsible for the mounting of the concrete barriers.

The judge noted that no witnesses “was invited to substantiate the claim” throughout the hearing.

He added that NNPC’s claim that the accident was due to the recklessness and over-speeding by…