Nigeria has emerged as the worst offender in complying with rulings from the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, with 50 enforceable judgments still pending—more than double the tally of the next country—according to figures released during the court’s World Human Rights Day commemoration.

Deputy Chief Registrar Gaye Sowe disclosed that of 419 judgments delivered against the 12 ECOWAS states (excluding Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, who withdrew under the AES bloc), only a fraction have been enforced. Nigeria tops the list with 125 total cases: 67 dismissed, 10 enforced, and 50 unenforced. Togo follows with 29 unenforced cases, Guinea with 18, Sierra Leone with 11, and Côte d’Ivoire with nine. The ECOWAS Commission itself has 36 judgments against it, but only 14 have been implemented.

Court President Justice Ricardo Gonçalves voiced alarm at the low compliance rate, warning: “Without effective and total implementation of the court’s judgments, the promise of human rights protection offered by the 2005 Supplementary Protocol becomes a mirage.”

Sowe noted that while 10 of 12 member states have established national authorities to enforce rulings—only Benin and Cape Verde have not—compliance remains “dismal.” More than half of all cases filed are eventually dismissed, prompting the court to plan nationwide sensitization campaigns.

The backlog includes landmark human rights cases involving unlawful detention, police brutality, freedom of expression, and political persecution—many brought by Nigerian citizens against their own federal government. Human rights groups welcomed the transparency but warned the figures expose a “culture of impunity” in West Africa’s largest democracy.