{"id":77304,"date":"2020-12-12T09:45:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-12T08:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=77304"},"modified":"2020-12-12T09:45:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T08:45:45","slug":"international-criminal-court-set-to-probe-buharis-govt-over-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/international-criminal-court-set-to-probe-buharis-govt-over-killings\/","title":{"rendered":"International Criminal Court Set to Probe Buhari\u2019s Govt Over Killings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The International Criminal Court\u2019s prosecutor said Friday she had enough evidence to open a full probe into ongoing violence in Nigeria by both Islamist insurgents and security forces.<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Fatou Bensouda\u2019s announcement comes as violence continues to wreak havoc in the northeast, where at least 76 people were slaughtered by Boko Haram jihadists two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing a thorough process, I can announce today that the statutory criteria for opening an investigation into the situation in Nigeria have been met,\u201d Bensouda said in a statement, issued at the ICC\u2019s headquarters in The Hague.<\/p>\n

ICC prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into the situation in Nigeria in 2010 but Bensouda now wants permission from judges to proceed to a full-blown formal probe.<\/p>\n

Gambian-born Bensouda specifically referred to acts committed by Boko Haram, whose 11-year insurgency in the country have claimed the lives of at least 36,000 people.<\/p>\n

Around two million others have been displaced, according to UN figures.<\/p>\n

Boko Haram and its splinter groups have committed \u201cacts that constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes\u201d including murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and cruel treatment, Bensouda said.<\/p>\n

But while the \u201cvast majority\u201d of crimes were committed by non-state perpetrators \u201cwe also found a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Nigerian Security Forces committed acts constituting crimes against humanity and war crimes\u201d, Bensouda said.<\/p>\n

This included murder, rape, torture, and cruel treatment as well as enforced disappearance and forcible transfer of the population and attacks directed at civilians.<\/p>\n

A full investigation by the ICC, set up in 2002 to try the world\u2019s worst crimes, could eventually lead to charges over the violence in the oil-rich African nation, which has been fuelled by the Boko Haram insurgency.<\/p>\n

Bensouda said Nigeria has made some effort to prosecute \u201cmainly low-level captured\u201d Boko Haram fighters, while military authorities told her they have \u201cexamined, and dismissed, allegations against their own troops\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have given ample time for these proceedings to progress,\u201d keeping in mind the ICC\u2019s complementarity principle, which means it would only get involved in investigations and prosecutions if a member state was unable or unwilling to do so, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur assessment is that none of these proceedings relate, even indirectly, to the forms of conduct or categories of persons that would likely form the focus of my investigations,\u201d Bensouda said.<\/p>\n

Boko Haram\u2019s main group claimed responsibility earlier this month for the massacre of some 76 farm workers in an area outside Borno state\u2019s capital Maiduguri, in which dozens of labourers were mowed down by gunmen on motorbikes.<\/p>\n

Farm workers were also tied up and had their throats slit in the attack believed to be seeking revenge on villagers for seizing the group\u2019s fighters and handing them over to the authorities.<\/p>\n

The massacre provoked widespread international condemnation including by the head of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to assure my prayers for Nigeria, where blood has unfortunately been spilled once more in a terrorist attack,\u201d Pope Francis said at the Vatican during a weekly general audience earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, state security sources said 10 Nigerian troops were killed on Monday in clashes with IS-linked jihadists in Borno state.<\/p>\n

Fighting erupted when a team of soldiers stormed a camp of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Alagarno village in Damboa district.<\/p>\n

Alagarno, which lies\u00a0150 kilometres (90 miles) from regional capital Maiduguri, is a stronghold of ISWAP, which split from the Boko Haram jihadist group in 2016 and rose to become a dominant force.<\/p>\n

ISWAP has increasingly been attacking civilians, killing and abducting people on highways as well as raiding villages for food supplies.<\/p>\n

Violence in Nigeria has spread to neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the militant groups.<\/p>\n

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The International Criminal Court\u2019s prosecutor said Friday she had enough evidence to open a full probe into ongoing violence in Nigeria by both Islamist insurgents and security forces.   Fatou…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nInternational Criminal Court Set to Probe Buhari\u2019s Govt Over Killings - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/international-criminal-court-set-to-probe-buharis-govt-over-killings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"International Criminal Court Set to Probe Buhari\u2019s Govt Over Killings - 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