A Nigerian human rights group on Monday asked the International Criminal<\/p>\n
Court to bring charges against Nigerian presidential candidate Muhammadu
\nBuhari for post-election violence in 2011.<\/p>\n
The Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice said in a statement
\nBuhari should face justice over the violence, when 800 people were killed
\nand many churches and schools were destroyed.<\/p>\n
The ICC has been looking into possible war crimes in Nigeria since 2010,
\nbut few believe it would be keen to take on another powerful politician
\nafter being forced to drop charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta
\nearlier this month.<\/p>\n
Buhari\u2019s All Progressives Congress party denied the claims, saying they
\nwere politically motivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will not stop at anything to try to derail General Buhari,\u201d said
\nspokesman Lai Mohammed. \u201cI can see the hands of the government behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nigerian officials were not immediately available to respond.<\/p>\n
The court\u2019s prosecutor receives dozens of such submissions each year, of
\nwhich very few ever result in investigations.<\/p>\n
The NCDJ alleged the violence included acts of murder, torture and rape
\nsystematically directed at perceived non-supporters of Buhari.<\/p>\n
The NCDJ had previously referred Buhari to the ICC in 2011, but said it
\ndecided to submit more evidence after the former military ruler emerged as
\nthe main candidate in February\u2019s presidential elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of very strong evidence we are submitting to the
\nprosecutor,\u201d said Goran Sluiter, a Dutch law professor acting for the
\nNCDJ, adding he wanted to ensure Buhari did not escape justice by winning
\npolitical office.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the ICC withdrew charges against Kenyatta, who was
\naccused of orchestrating a wave of deadly violence after the 2007 Kenyan
\nelections, due to insufficient evidence.<\/p>\n
Observers say the ICC charges were a key factor in helping Kenyatta secure
\nthe presidency two years ago, from which position he was able to lead
\nKenya and its African allies in a campaign of lobbying against the court\u2019s
\ncharges.<\/p>\n
Buhari, 71, has been an influential political figure in Nigeria for much
\nof its post-independence history, leading a military government for two
\nyears until 1985.<\/p>\n
The ICC was set up 12 years ago to try those suspected of serious
\ninternational crimes in cases where local authorities are unable to do so.
\nIt has been criticized for bringing weak cases and securing just three
\nconvictions.<\/p>\n
RUETERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Nigerian human rights group on Monday asked the International Criminal Court to bring charges against Nigerian presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari for post-election violence in 2011. The Northern Coalition for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n