(Ecofin Agency) - After going through long internal procedures at Lomé’s first instance and appeal courts without avail, the residents of 21 villages who were expropriated two decades ago, due to the construction of the Nangbeto hydropower dam, finally turn to community justice.

According to the news website Togo top infos, they just took the matter to the ECOWAS court. The plaintiffs are demanding from Benin’s electricity community (CEB) which built the dam, the payment of compensation for being expropriated from their lands, in the Atchinedji district.

“Given that these lands hold tremendous riches and that the district’s inhabitants live mainly off agriculture, the expropriated have demanded CEB’s authorities to take appropriate measures to relocate them. CEB had then, before construction works for the infrastructure began, promised to improve the living standards of affected populations; build them new modern houses; provide compensation for lost farming lands; build schools, markets and health centres; provide and food support for 3 years. However, CEB’s authorities did not keep their promise and no substantial development program was implemented up till now,” the website reports.