ICC meets criteria to investigate Nigeria’s security agencies over ‘Crimes Against Humanity’
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda says she has issued a preliminary determination to investigate Nigerian security forces over allegations of “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes
According to Fatou Bensouda in a statement she released today Dec, 11 she noted that there has been a conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria as the statutory criteria has been met to open an investigation on the case.
See her statement below;
“Today, I announce the conclusion of the preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria. This is coming on the heels of allegations of human rights abuses by the country’s security forces in the north-east and other parts of Nigeria.
“As I stated last year at the annual Assembly of States Parties, before I end my term as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’ or the ‘Court’), I intend to reach determinations on all files that have been under preliminary examination under my tenure, as far as I am able.
“In that statement, I also indicated the high likelihood that several preliminary examinations would progress to the investigative stage. Following a thorough process, I can announce today that the statutory criteria for opening an investigation into the situation in Nigeria have been met.”
“The ICC found a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Nigerian Security Forces (‘NSF’) have committed the following acts constituting crimes against humanity and war crimes: murder, rape, torture, and cruel treatment; enforced disappearance; forcible transfer of population; outrages upon personal dignity; intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such and against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; unlawful imprisonment; conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into armed forces and using them to participate actively in hostilities; persecution on gender and political grounds; and other inhumane acts.”
This is a welcome development because the incessant attack on Nigerians is very bad indeed.
With this green light, I hope those who is sponsor bokoharam that the government can’t find out they will assist us in finding them.
We have lost so many lives on this issue in Nigeria on this bokoharam, bandits and other security threatening in the country. Good development.
If can help us to unravel what our government can’t do for decade and I hope this will reduce the insecurities in the land drastically.
They should help us investigate the crime in Nigeria because we don’t know where the country is moving into
Wow it is a welcome development for the country because the rate of crime against humanity in Nigeria is becoming too much they should Hasten up before it gets out of hand
They should come to her aid because the rate of crime against humanity in Nigeria is far too much for the country to be here even the cry of the citizen north head by their leaders
Very sweet news. Hope to hear more on this
That is good news….. At least it will curb those useless killings of innocent civilians a little……
They should be tried..o because their excesses is getting too much
Both the bokoharam, the military, they all are becoming something else