The Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mrs Fatou Bensouda, has begun investigation into allegations of extra-judicial killings in Nigeria by security forces.
Bensouda confirmed this in an interview published in the August/September 2012 edition of the New African Magazine.
She was quoted as saying: “The OTP (office of the prosecutor) is currently conducting preliminary examinations in a number of situations, including Afghanistan, Georgia, Guinea, Columbia, Honduras, Korea and Nigeria”
The on-going inquiry is sequel to a petition lodged with the Special Prosecutor on behalf of the Socio-Economic and Accountability Project (SERAP) by rights activist Femi Falana (SAN) two years ago.
Only last week, following the killing of 185 people in Baga, the border town 180 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) described the attacks on the civilian population as crimes against humanity.
It said the military action requires ICC’s attention to bring the actors to book since the government has not been able to deal with the situation effectively.
Falana, in a statement, said the disturbing phenomenon of attacks on civilians was confirmed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke (SAN).
According to the lawyer, Adoke revealed at a public event marking the Human Rights Day on December 10, 2012 that the Police alone had killed 7,108 persons in four years.
Of the victims, 2,500 were detained suspects.
Falana said with such summary executions by the police all over the country and the brutal killing of hundreds of innocent people by the joint task forces operating in the Niger Delta and in some northern states, a strong case had been made for the immediate intervention of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try the culprits who have committed such crimes against humanity with impunity.
He said pursuant to the provisions of the Rome Statute to which Nigeria is a signatory, allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide are triable by the ICC where a state is unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects under its own legal system due to lack of political will.
Falana believes since the Federal Government has allegedly consistently demonstrated its unwillingness and inability to try security personnel and powerful civilians who engage in extra-judicial killings and other crimes against humanity, the suspects and their sponsors are going to appear before the ICC sooner than later.
He added: “To avoid a situation whereby some highly placed public officers and security personnel are dragged before the ICC for conspiracy and crimes against humanity the Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, direct the National Human Rights Commission to investigate and ensure the prosecution of all persons found culpable in the Baga invasion and other cases of extra-judicial killings in all states of the Federation.
“The Commission is the only body statutorily empowered to investigate complaints of human rights abuses in Nigeria. The Federal Government should make use of the Commission instead of wasting public funds on ad-hoc panels or tribunals of inquiry.
“When President Goodluck Jonathan visited Yobe and Borno States in March 2013, he warned that gone were the days ‘when one soldier is killed, the soldiers come and kill scores of people, we have always been admoninishing that’.
“Now that over 200 people were gruesomely massacred in Baga because one soldier was alleged to have been killed by a gang of criminals, the Federal Government must demonstrate a commitment to the defence and protection of the lives of Nigerians by bringing to book the coward murderers and arsonists, who invaded Baga penultimate week without any justification.
“During his last media chat, President Jonathan was unsparing of the barbaric invasion of Odi in Bayelsa State in November 1999 by a detachment of soldiers. The Federal High Court has since awarded monetary damages of N137 billion against the Federal Government for the brutal infringements of the fundamental rights of Odi people.
“Before then, the court had ordered the payment of N42 billion to the people of Zaki Biam in Benue State, who were similarly brutalised by armed troops on the illegal orders of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“President Jonathan should ensure that the compensatory damages are paid while the murderers who took part in the expeditions are fished out and prosecuted without any further delay.”
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