The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague has confirmed that it is considering the petition sent to it by a human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), on alleged crimes against humanity committed by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and others in the arms procurement scandal.
The ICC revealed this in a letter dated February 1, 2016 with reference: OTP-CR-32/16 and signed by Mark P. Dillon, Head of Information & Evidence Unit of the ICC.
The letter read in part: “The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC acknowledges the 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 ICC.”
Falana had in a petition dated January 19, 2016, requested the ICC to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity committed against the Nigerian people by some former and serving military officials, as well as public officials and private persons who engaged in the criminal diversion of $8 billion earmarked to procure equipment for the armed forces to fight the insurgency.
Falana had demanded that the court to commence investigations into allegations of the criminal diversion of the security fund of $2.1 billion and N643 billion earmarked by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining whether these amounted to crimes against humanity within the court’s jurisdiction.
He also urged the court to invite representatives of the Nigerian government to provide written or oral testimony at the seat of the court, so that the prosecutor is able to conclude on the basis of available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the pre-trial chamber for authorisation of an investigation.
The human rights lawyer asked the court to bring to justice those suspected to bear full responsibility for deliberate underfunding of the armed forces through widespread and systematic corruption in Nigeria; and urged the Nigerian government to fulfill its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC; “including complying with your requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the criminal diversion of the security fund, testimony, and provide other support to the ICC”.