The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands on the incessant armed Fulani attacks on local farmers and other extra-judicial killings in Nigeria.

Conversely, the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has in a letter dated September 26th, 2016 confirmed the receipt of the petition by the rights group.

In a letter with reference details as OTP-CR-274/16, endorsed by the Head of Information and evidence Unit, Office of the Prosecutor from The Hague, Netherlands Mr. Mark P. Dillion, the International Criminal Court stated: “The office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court acknowledges receipt of your documents/letter.

“This communication has been duly entered in the Communications Register of the Office. We will give Consideration to this Communication, as appropriate in accordance with the Provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
The International Criminal Court also wrote: “Please note this acknowledgement letter does not mean an investigation has been opened, nor that an investigation will be opened by the office of the Prosecutor. As soon as a decision is reached, we will inform you, in writing, and provide you with reasons for this decision.”

In a statement by the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group said it has sent detailed evidence of the high casualty figures of Nigerians of all tribes and religions so far killed in the last one year by armed Fulani herdsmen and other freelance armed hoodlums.

The rights group said it was compelled to drag the Federal Government to the ICC because the administration has stood by and watched “without the Nigerian government deploying the military to treat these mass killers as terrorists even when most crime rating agencies around the World views armed Fulani herdsmen as the second deadliest terror group in Nigeria.”

Specifically, in a petition dated September 15th 2016 the rights group had invited the ICC to investigate the widespread killings going on in Nigeria especially by armed Fulani herdsmen and to take action to bring the perpetrators to international justice since the current Nigerian government is doing nothing to address these issues radically in compliance with the Nigerian laws.

In the petition titled, “Unlawful Homicide Under Nigerian Laws and the Obligation of the Nigerian State to Enforce the Laws”, HURIWA submitted: “It is with trepidation that we address this letter to your office and to pray that you carry out investigation to put a stop to the numerous killings going on in Nigeria.

“We are a reputable Non-governmental organization that has been on ground in Nigeria for almost a decade. We will let you know who we are in greater details towards the end of this letter. We will like your good office to investigate the killings of Igbo Youth who belong purportedly to the Indigenous People of Biafra. We also invite your office to investigate the incessant killings of farmers by armed Fulani herdsmen and the suspected support the Nigerian government provide for these killings to continue.

“The International Criminal Court is obliged as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council to demand that the Nigerian State take concrete measures to punish perpetrators of sectarian killings which have become widespread and which has resulted in the widening apprehension and anxieties amongst Christians who feel that the government which is currently controlled by a Moslem and with all the major security and defence positions manned by Moslem appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari that the Christians are no longer safe in some parts of Nigeria.

“Sir, we know that ICC is aware that World powers provides technical and funding assistance for the training of Nigerian Security Forces and this fact makes it imperative that ICC should call those governments to order so those governments take practical diplomatic measures to ensure that democracy is not undermined in Nigeria and to demand an end to the specters of killings in Nigeria. We will now address the issue of the most gruesome evidence of crimes against humanity which the ICC must investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice. We are talking about the Agatu killings.”

•Photo shows HURIWA National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.

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