Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, has requested the International
Criminal Court to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity
committed against the
Nigerian people by some former and serving
military as well public officials and private persons who engaged in the
criminal diversion of $8 billion earmarked to procure equipment for the
armed forces to fight insurgency.
In thd petition, Falana said, “We are a firm of civil rights lawyers
based in Lagos, Nigeria. We are the defense counsel for the majority of
the members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Nigeria who were
charged with mutiny, cowardly behavior and sundry offences before the
courts-martial instituted by the former military authorities. .
As we shall demonstrate anon, the only “offence” proved against our
clients in the military courts was that they had the temerity to demand
for weapons to fight the well equipped troops of the Boko Haram sect.”
He asked ICC to:
1. Urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations
of the criminal diversion of the security fund of $2.1 billion and N643
billion earmarked by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining
whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Court’s
jurisdiction. In this respect, I also urge you to invite representatives
of the Nigerian government to provide written or oral testimony at the
seat of the Court, so that the Prosecutor is able to conclude on the
basis of available information whether there is a reasonable basis for
an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for
authorization of an investigation.
2. Bring to justice those suspected to bear full responsibility for
deliberate under funding of the armed forces through widespread and
systematic corruption in Nigeria; and
3. Urge the Nigerian government to fulfill its obligations under the
Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; including complying with your
requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the criminal
diversion of security fund, testimony, and provide other support to the
ICC.
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