The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the INTERPOL to probe the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai for alleged crime against humanity.
Others asked to be probed by the international agencies are: Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
According to the PDP, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan such investigation was imperative following reported alleged atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by security forces under their command.
The party also called on other world bodies to begin processes that will lead to the prosecution, firm sanctions, including travel bad and freezing of assets belonging to all those involved in state-backed killings and human right abuses in Nigeria under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
With the exit of the service chiefs, the PDP charged ICC’s Chief Prosecutor, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, to immediately issue official warrant in line with the court’s earlier declaration that it has enough evidence to open a full probe on the outgoing commanders for crimes against humanity.
The party urged the ICC to probe the cases of extra-judicial execution of innocent Nigerians, massacre of peaceful protesters, illegal arrests and arbitrary detention of citizens in dehumanizing cells, torture, rape and reported disappearances, allegedly committed by the military under the outgoing commanders, as detailed in the reports of credible international bodies including the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI).
“The outgoing service chiefs must be made to provide answers for the reported massacre of unarmed protesters by the military in the Northwest and Southeast states between 2015 and 2017, including the 348 civilians reportedly killed by soldiers in Kaduna state as well as the 347 bodies found in mass grave in the aftermath of the Zaria massacre by the military under the command,” the party said.
The ICC was also called upon to probe reports of military invasion and mass shooting in communities in Borno, Yobe, Rivers, Abia, Anambra among others states of the Southeast, Southsouth and the Northeast where soldiers reportedly massacred unarmed civilians, razed communities, burnt homes, displaced inhabitants, raped women, detained, beat up and tortured citizens in detention camps reportedly located in military barracks where deadly fumigation chemicals were allegedly used in overcrowded cells.
“Our party further implores the ICC to investigate the reported inhuman detention of thousands of Nigerians children by the military in the Northeast camps particularly between 2017, when more than 1,600 children were reported to have been in illegal detention in cages and 2018 when the UN detailed 418 detained children. This is in addition to the no fewer than 1000 children released under negotiation by the UN in 2016,” the party said.
While the PDP expresses unwavering confidence in the military, it insists on the investigation of the atrocities of the few bad influence elements in the security architecture to serve as a deterrent.
“Our party therefore urges all well-meaning Nigerians to join in demanding that the ICC to immediately commence the investigation of the tenure of the outgoing service chiefs for crime against humanity in our country,” PDP added
