Nigeria Sues Tobacco Firms for Damages

Source from:  au.news.yahoo.com November 8 11/08/2007

Nigeria has filed a suit against three tobacco companies, seeking 5.3 trillion naira ($A47.59 billion) in damages for public health costs for treating smoking-related diseases, court papers show. The damages sought are a larger sum than Nigeria's annual federal budget. The suit is against the world's second largest cigarette maker, British American Tobacco (BAT), Altria unit Philip Morris International, and Nigerian firm International Tobacco Ltd. The investment unit and local subsidiary of BAT are also named in the suit. The companies could not immediately be reached for comment. The suit has been filed at a Federal High Court in the capital Abuja, which has fixed a first hearing for January 14. It follows similar legal actions by three Nigerian state governments which filed for $US38.6 billion ($A41.75 billion) in damages in May. The cases are inspired by US state lawsuits of the 1990s that led to multibillion-dollar settlements by the tobacco industry. Non-governmental public health campaigners say Nigeria's health service is in a state of collapse and the government does not spend anywhere near those amounts on delivering healthcare. Like all other public services, healthcare has deteriorated during decades of corruption and mismanagement. Enditem