Nigeria, May 15 -- The ECOWAS Court of Justice rejected on Wednesday a suit seeking the repeal of vagrancy laws criminalising destitute activities such as street wandering and begging from Nigerian laws.

In its judgement delivered in Lagos, a three-member panel ruled that the West African regional court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

The judges said the case, which a Nigerian civil society group filed in 2021, failed to identify victims whose rights were allegedly violated through the enforcement of the disputed laws, therefore depriving the court of jurisdiction to look into its merit.

According to a statement from the court, the panel comprised Ricardo Claudio Monteiro Goncalves, who was the presiding judge, Sengu Mohamed Koro...