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| See complete list of Nigerian government officials dragged alongside Buhari to the ICC by Biafrans |
Below is the detail of top Nigerian government officials that have been dragged to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague over crimes against humanity committed against Biafrans.
The Biafran has obtained the 93 paged document that was sent to the ICC by lawyers representing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) containing compelling charges against the individuals.
A. Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces:
Criminal Charges:
i. in publicly announcing his lack of regret over his involvement in the Biafran War and his willingness to ‘kill more Igbos to save the country’, 338 has arguably solicited and/or induced the various crimes that took place in South-Eastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016, pursuant to Article 25(3)(b) of the Statute;
ii. in failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the various crimes committed by the army, police, and/or JTF in South-Eastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016 or to submit the various matters to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably 338 See para 27, supra. ICC Communication re Targeting of IPOB in Nigeria Page 82 of 93 bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute;
iii. in publicly announcing on 30 December 2015 that the Federal Government would continue to detain Nnamdi Kanu despite the 17 December 2015 unconditional High-Court release order, 339 has arguably ordered, solicited, and/or induced Kanu’s unlawful detention, pursuant to Article 25(3)(b) of the Statute.
B. Lawal Musa Daura, Director-General, State Security Service (SSS) aka Department of State Services (DSS):
Criminal Charges:
i. in detaining Nnamdi Kanu against his will in the face of valid judicial orders to the contrary, has arguably committed the crime against humanity of unlawful imprisonment, pursuant to Article 25(3)(a) of the Statute;
ii. in failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the commission of torture against Nnamdi Kanu while in DSS custody or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute.
C. Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, and Moses Idakwo, a Federal Government prosecutor, in bringing and continuously pursuing politically-motivated charges against Nnamdi Kanu, have arguably either:
Criminal Charges:
i. along with Lawal Musa Daura, committed—as co-perpetrators, indirect perpetrators, or indirect co-perpetrators—the crime against 339 See para 54, supra. ICC Communication re Targeting of IPOB in Nigeria Page 83 of 93 humanity of unlawful imprisonment, pursuant to Article 25(3)(a) of the Statute;
ii. aided and abetted the same crime, pursuant to Article 25(3)(c) of the Statute; or
iii. contributed in any other way to the commission of the same crime through a group of persons acting with a common purpose, pursuant to Article 25(3)(d) of the Statute.
D. Lt-Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai, Chief of Army Staff:
Criminal Charges:
i. in publicly announcing the army’s intention to ‘crush’ any threat to Nigeria’s unity and territorial integrity,340 has arguably solicited and/or induced the various crimes committed by the army and/or JTF in South-Eastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016, pursuant to Article 25(3)(b) of the Statute;
ii. in failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the various crimes committed by the army and/or JTF in South-Eastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016 or to submit the various matters to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute.
E. Colonel Sani Usman, Nigerian Army spokesman,
Criminal Charges:
In publicly announcing the army’s intention to utilize military rules of engagement ‘to the fullest’ in response to civilian demonstrations, 341 has arguably solicited and/or induced the various crimes committed by the army and/or JTF in SouthEastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016, pursuant to Article 25(3)(b) of the Statute. 340 See para 53, supra. 341 See para 36, supra. ICC Communication re Targeting of IPOB in Nigeria Page 84 of 93
F. Abdullahi Muhammadu, the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,342 in failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the various crimes committed by the JTF in South-Eastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016 or to submit the various matters to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute.
G. Solomon Ehigiator Arase, Inspector-General of Nigeria Police:
Criminal Charges:
i. in publicly announcing, on 8 September 2015, a large-scale and systematic police operation specifically aimed at rounding up pro Biafran protesters, 343 has arguably ordered, solicited, and/or induced the various crimes committed by the police in South-Eastern Nigeria between September 2015 and January 2016, pursuant to Article 25(3)(b) of the Statute;
ii. in personally directing and overseeing the same operation, has arguably committed—as a co-perpetrator, indirect perpetrator, and/or indirect co-perpetrator—the various crimes committed by the police in South-Eastern Nigeria between September 2015 and January 2016, pursuant to Article 25(3)(a) of the Statute;
iii. in failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the various crimes committed by the police in South-Eastern Nigeria between August 2015 and January 2016 or to submit the various matters to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute. 342 N.b. The NSCDC is a component part of the operations of the JTF operating within the Niger Delta region. See, e.g., ‘Our priority is protection of critical national infrastructure – NSCDC’, Vanguard, 19 September 2015. 343 See para 30, supra. ICC Communication re Targeting of IPOB in Nigeria Page 85 of 93
H. Hosea Karma, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police,
Criminal Charges:
In failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the various crimes committed by the police in Onitsha between August 2015 and January 2016 or to submit the various matters to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute.
I. Musa Kimo, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police,
Criminal Charges:
In failing to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress the various crimes committed by the police in Port Harcourt between August 2015 and January 2016 or to submit the various matters to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, arguably bears command/superior responsibility pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute.
Naturally, the various individuals named above may have given direct orders to their subordinates or collaborated with each other in any number of ways. Any OTP preliminary examination should obviously investigate, among other things, the de jure and de facto relationships between and among the named individuals (and others) as well as the existence of any agreement, common plan, and/or common purpose between two or more possible perpetrators.
Finally, it should be noted that—according to Article 27 of the Statute—none of the individuals named above (nor any other Nigerian official for that matter) may rely on his official capacity in order to shield himself from any criminal liability.344 344 See Rome Statute, Article 27 (Irrelevance of official capacity) (‘1. This Statute shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Statute, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. 2. Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person.’)
Culled from ARTICLE 15 COMMUNICATION TO THE ICC OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR REGARDING THE TARGETING OF THE PRO-BIAFRAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA
