Following a petition submitted to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) demanding a
thorough investigation of former Borno State
governor Ali Modu Sheriff and retired Nigerian
Army Chief of Staff Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika,
the ICC has confirmed they will review the
petition and other supporting documents, which
claim the pair were affiliated with the terrorist
sect Boko Haram.
International Criminal Court
In August, Sheriff and Ihejirika were accused of
sponsoring Boko Haram by an Australian
hostage negotiator, Stephen Davis, who claimed
to have been working with the Nigerian federal
government to negotiate a release of the
kidnapped Chibok girls.
In September, the Human and Environmental
Development Agenda (HEDA), a non-
governmental organization whose mandate is to
promote and protect human rights, petitioned the
ICC to act on Davis' revelations, asserting that
the Nigerian government lacked the "political will"
to intervene against high-profile suspects
like Sheriff and Ihejirika.
"With your public admittance of Boko Haram's
activities as qualifying for crimes against
humanity, we shall not bother with further
legal points to qualify these atrocities under the
Rome Statute," HEDA chairman Olanrewaju
Suraju said. "It is also instructive to assert that
the Nigerian government, under the
current leadership lacks the political will and
judicial independence to prosecute the
individuals who are friends and former
subordinates of the President."
"We hereby urge the ICC to urgently open
immediate examination of this development by
inviting Rev. Stephen Davis to provide insight
into his revelations, to assist the court in its
investigation and possible prosecution of those
connected with the crimes," the statement
furthered.
In response to the petition, the Head of
Information and evidence unit, Office of the
Prosecutor of the ICC, M. P. Dillon, wrote to
confirm that the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court had officially received, registered,
and promised to review the submission.
According the letter, the office of the ICC
prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, would treat the
issues raised in the petition within its mandate.
"This communication has been duly entered in
the communications register of the office," the
letter read. "We will give consideration to this
communication, as appropriate, in accordance
with the Provisions of the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court."
The letter concluded with a promise by the Court
to communicate its decision once determined.
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