The Federal Government has been asked to pay $4.1 billion compensation “for the vicarious and direct involvement of the named Government and the security chiefs and other public office holders involved in the mindless, wicked, ruthless, brutal, rapacious, genocidal, ethnocidal, atrocious, grisly, unlawful and indefensible and inexcusable massacre of no fewer than 480 unarmed and defenseless citizens and injuring of over 500 others during the military massacre operations in Eastern Nigeria between 30^th August 2015 and 14^th September 2017.”

The International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety) made the demand in a statement issued on Wednesday in Onitsha, Anambra State.

“While $3b of the $4.1b under demand represents general damages and costs inflicted or incurred by the victims of the massacre operations, $1.1b represents the economic losses incurred during the massacre and its aftermath by the People of Southeast Region and Igbo Delta owing to widespread disruption of the economic activities occasioned by military and police insecurity and out-station and in-station police and military corruption including roadblock and custodial extortions.

“The $1.1b or N336b should be refunded by the present central Government of Nigeria to the five States in the Southeast Region and Delta State using the following sharing formulas: 30% to Anambra State Government, 30% to Abia State Government, 15% to Imo State Government, 12.5% to Enugu State Government, 12.5% to Ebonyi State Government and 5% to the Government of Delta State,” the group said in the statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi (Principal Official/Board Chair); Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq. (Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Programme); Chinwe Umeche, Esq. (Head, Democracy & Good Governance Programme); and Chidimma Evan Udegbunam, Esq. (Head, Campaign & Publicity Department).

The statement further said: “Intersociety’s demand stems from the fact that we are also a victim in the named military massacre. For purpose of clarity, the United Nations Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crimes and Abuse of Office, 1985, defines atrocity crimes victims as “persons, who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within member-States, including those laws prohibiting abuse of power. The victims include, where necessary, the immediate family or dependant of the direct victim and persons who have suffered harm in intervening to assist people in distress or to prevent victimization”.

“It is also the strong recommendation of Intersociety that the named perpetrators must face life jails and other hash sentences or sanctions within Nigerian borders or at regional and international borders. No perpetrator shall be sentenced to less than 25yrs and above life jail. Intersociety opposes death penalty in all its ramifications. There shall also be national written apology from the central Government of Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo to the People of Eastern Nigeria especially the Igbo Race and Nigerians in general. The national apology shall subsequently be transformed into a “National Sorry Day” and a remembrance day to immortalize the slain or crime scene and off crime scene dead victims.

“Other Recommendations

“Intersociety is calling on the central Government of Nigeria to fish out and bring all the named perpetrators in the military massacre operations in Eastern Nigeria to book. Those still in the service or perpetrator-members of the Nigerian Military and the Nigeria Police Force (i.e. COAS and ors) must be identified and weeded out of the Armed Forces and the Police, arrested and prosecuted. Continued failure of the named Government to do so clearly amounts to breach of the Int’l Law Principles of Complementarity & No Impunity and forfeiture of such sovereignty rights before the international justice system. In law and criminology, such horrendous crimes are not statute barred or have no expiring dates.

“The int’l justice organizations and concerned others, on the other hand, should now or later do the needful in respect of Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, Wiiliam Obiano and Victor Okezie Ikpeazu. The named quadruplet in the atrocity crimes can also be prosecuted in Nigeria when they must have lost their office immunity.

“Nigerian Government must end its brutal crackdown; likewise physical, structural and cultural violence and persecution of People of the Igbo Nation in Nigeria or any part thereof. All forms of hate and discriminatory policies against the People of the Nation-State in Nigeria including “terror stigmatization,” selective enforcement of the law and racial profiling must be discontinued and abolished.

“Law Enforcement and Rule of Law in Nigeria must be evenly or uniformly enforced irrespective of ethnic, religious, economic and cultural origins and affiliations of those citizens found or suspected to have been found to be conflict with the criminal laws of Nigeria.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is strongly called upon to de-proscribe and delist from its so-called “terror list” the leading nonviolent and unarmed pro-Biafra group; vindictively and racially proscribed and labelled a “terror group” on 17^thSeptember 2017 for sole but failed purpose of retroactively evading or escaping from the horrendous crimes perpetrated against the group, its members and supporters and other citizens of the Judeo-Christian People (Igbo) of Nigeria. There shall also be immediate decriminalization of members of the group and their lawful activities.

“The Attorney General of Nigeria is specifically urged to file motions for discontinuation of all ongoing pretrial and trial (nolle prosequi) of all members of the group vindictively arrested and detained or languishing in various police and SSS detention facilities or prison custodies across the country. They include those spuriously accused of “terrorism and terrorism financing” or “treason and treasonable felony.” The Attorneys General of States jurisdictionally handling such spuriously slammed charges in their States are also called upon to follow suit or be directed accordingly by the appropriate authorities.

“All military roadblocks in Igbo Land or Southeast Region and Igbo Delta, numbering not less than 100 and their police counterparts, numbering not less than 3000 as at January 2019 must permanently be dismantled; with military and police personnel manning them withdrawn and moved out of the Region.

“Intersociety is also calling for total discontinuation and end of police and military roadblock extortions and commercialization of criminal investigation and other police duties in Igbo Land.

The Nigeria Police Force must revert and return to professionalism and intelligence policing including mental and electronic policing intelligence or mental-machine policing intelligence

“There shall be a presidential directive by the central Government of Retired Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari and Prof Yemi Osinbajo, which says it is fighting corruption, to the authorities of the Nigerian Military, the Nigeria Police Force and Paramilitary formations operating in the Southeast Region and Igbo Delta to return the whopping N100b criminal or extortion proceeds to coffers of the Governments of Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi and Delta States.

“In returning the criminal proceeds, the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force shall return a total of N78.02b extorted, the Nigerian Military N6b and the affected or named Paramilitary formations (Custom, FRSC, NDLEA and NAFDAC) N16b; totalling N100b or $330m.

The percentage ratios for the return shall be 30% to Anambra State Government, 30% to Abia State Government, 15% to Imo State Government, 12.5% to Enugu State Government, 12.5% to Ebonyi State Government and 5% compensation to the Government of Delta State.

“The present Buhari and Osinbajo Government shall issue further directives to the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Military and the affected Paramilitary formations to fish out the lists containing names of their officers and personnel posted to the Southeast Region and road routes linking it between August 2015 and December 2018.

“The purpose of fishing out the names of officers and personnel of the affected security agencies shall be to have the N100b criminal proceeds deducted from their monetized remunerations including pensions of those already retired; in addition to commensurate deductions from the remunerations of the immediate past IGP; the COAS, the Chief of Defense Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff and central heads of the affected Paramilitary formations (Custom, FRSC, NDLEA and NAFDAC).

“The Governors of the Southeast and Delta State and other top political office holders and leaders from the Region are called upon to immediately and strongly rise to the occasion to effectively checkmate the militarization and northernization of top military, police and other critical security formations and command structures in Igbo Land. Their present lopsided composition as graphically represented in the table segment of this special report is not only rejected and unacceptable but must also be reversed and equitably reconstructed or rebalanced.

“There shall be constituted “an international criminal enquiry” by the United Nations via its Security Council into the Nigerian Military Massacre Operations in Eastern Nigeria (August 2015-September 2017) with a view to exposing the atrocities, fishing out their in-service, out-service and ex-service perpetrators and referring them to ICC or ad hoc UN or regional or domesticated crimes tribunal(s) for trial under Chapter VII of the UN or referral powers of the UN Security Council (UNSC).

“At the appointed or appropriate time, there shall also be constituted “Panel of Enquiry into Military Rights Abuses & Violations in Southeast or Eastern Nigeria,” covering August 2015-September 2017. The Panel of Enquiry shall be set up by the Southeast or Eastern Governors Forum; with legislative inputs (resolutions) from all the eight or five of the eight States Houses of Assembly in the Region.

“Members of the international community especially the western democracies and the UN as well as international human rights organizations are particularly called upon to take diplomatic and other international justice notice of the named perpetrators and their atrocity crimes for purpose of declaring them “persona non gratae” including arrest and prosecution in their respective countries or at regional and international borders.

“The named perpetrators both retired and serving members of the Nigerian security establishments and public office holders shall also be slammed with appropriate international sanctions including being blacklisted and made ineligible in all regional and international military, policing and other security or diplomatic engagements including corporate and individual or intergovernmental consultancies, contracts, partnerships, exchange visits etc. Such sanctions shall be invoked using int’l legal instruments like the Leahy Law of USA 1966 as amended; among other international deterrent measures.

“Other non-judicial sanctions under recommendation against the perpetrators include denial and withdrawal of visas from the perpetrators and their families, freezing of their accounts and seizure or confiscation of their assets abroad; exposing their cash and properties stashed abroad, if any, etc.

“The apostles or advocates of international justice around the world including the “CIVITAS Maxima” of Switzerland are again called upon to open global campaigns against the named humanity or atrocity crimes’ perpetrators that would lead to their arrests in foreign soils to face the named crimes against humanity perpetrated by themselves or in their names or under their authorization.

“The perpetrators can arrested and charged locally, regionally and internationally through the instruments of municipal, active personality, passive personality and universal or international criminal jurisdictions or sued through the instruments of civil claimant litigations; such as the Torture Victims Protection Act of 1992 of the United States of America, etc.

“Conclusion & Special Links

“By the above, therefore, Intersociety is bringing to conclusion the segmental releases of its three years research work titled above. We hereby pronounce released, the full report (85 pages) and the victims’ album (62 pages). The report and its album version is already up and running on our website: www.intersociety-ng.org. The link to the said research-Special report is here: http://intersociety-ng.org/phocadownload/2019/under%20buhari%20and%20osinbajo%20many%20have%20gone%20and%20crippled%20for%20life%20in%20eastern%20nigeria.pdf

“Again, for easy access and reading of the report, (1) the link to its Executive Summary is here:http://intersociety-ng.org/component/k2/item/406-intersociety-begins-the-release-of-its-special-report-on-military-massacre-operations-in-eastern-nigeria, (2) the link to the names of defenseless citizens massacred and others critically injured or crippled for life is here: http://intersociety-ng.org/component/k2/item/407-names-of-defenseless-citizens-killed--crippled-for-life-by-buhari--osinbajo-government, (3) the link to the lists of vicarious and direct perpetrators of the massacre is here:http://intersociety-ng.org/component/k2/item/412-vicarious-perpetrator-in-the-september-2017army-python-dance-11-massacre-in-abia-state.

“To access the Report’s pictorial evidence or victims’ album, visit our website and click under “MASSMEDIA”. The special report and the victims’ album are also attached in this statement and formatted in the PDF files.

“Int’l News Report of The Special Report

“Gladly, the special report has also gone international and was well published yesterday; Tuesday, 5^th February 2019 by Washington DC based Christian Post (Int’l Online), CP, an internationally respected Christian persecution, human rights and international justice media watchdog; with branches across Americas and Europe including Dublin, Ireland. The special news report is titled: 480, mostly Christians, killed in Nigerian ‘military massacres' from 2015-2017: NGO report

“Happily, the special news publication of the Christian Post Int’l (CP) also drew “conservative” and “progressive” comments or viewpoints from John Campbell, the former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria during the George W. Bush, administration and a current senior fellow of Africa Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and Nina Shea, a prominent international human rights lawyer and director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute. The news report and views of the duo are found here: https://www.christianpost.com/news/480-mostly-christians-killed-in-nigerian-military-massacres-from-2015-2017-ngo-report.html

“Intersociety remains eternally grateful to Nigerian media particularly the leading online news publishers in Southern Nigeria and our teeming friends and followers in various social media platforms as well as a couple of Nigerian print media; for their immeasurable assistance to us in the course of segmental releases of the Report. Those wishing to access or obtain the Special Report and its pictorial album from source can contact us via info@intersociety-ng.org or on whatsapp via +2348174090052.

“Finally, it must be put on untainted record and authoritatively stated that no government or security forces including the Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo Government and its security forces and personnel in Nigeria are permitted to visit unspeakable and grisly state violence as was done in Eastern Nigeria on members of civilian and defenseless population. Not even criminal stigmatization and labeling including terror tag empower the security forces and their commanders to engage in act of grisly mass murder and widespread body laceration.

“Even in war situations, killing of the uninvolved or defenseless civilians and the wounded combatants or attacks on non military necessity are all tantamount to commission or perpetration of war crimes; not to talk of mass killings perpetrated in non war situations. One of the chief aims of this special report is to make COAS, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai and his company to run from pillar to pole for the rest of their lives defending themselves and kissing the iron bars of the prison over grisly and industrial scale crimes perpetrated against innocent and defenseless Judeo-Christian Igbo citizens of Nigeria so as to serve as a deterrent to others.”

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