Human rights lawyer, and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC), over the $2.1b arms purchase fraud. Reports have it that Falana, in his petition urged the court to investigate the alleged diversion of funds meant for the prosecution of the war against Boko Haram.
An excerpt of his petition to the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, dated January 19, 2016, reads “On account of the deliberate refusal of the former military authorities to equip and motivate the members of the armed forces involved in combat operations, the insurgents have killed about 25,000 soldiers and civilians including children and displaced over 2,000,000 people.
“The ICC needs to urgently commence an investigation proprio motu on the allegations of the criminal diversion of the security funds of $2.1bn and N643bn earmarked by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction.”
Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser in the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has been the man in the centre of the $2.1b arms purchase controversy.
Also, some ‘highly placed’ Nigerians have been indicted, arrested and charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system.
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