July 14, (THEWILL) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday, July 13th, formally acknowledged receipt of the 27-page petition filed by the Leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye, Yoruba secessionist agitator, Sunday Igboho, and other 49 Yoruba Self-Determination Groups Against President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, and former Inspectors-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and Muhammed Adamu.
In the petition, signed by several leaders of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups and submitted at the ICC on their behalf by an International Lawyer, Aderemilekun Omojola, the Nigerian leaders were accused of genocide in addition to committing other humanitarian crimes against the Yoruba people of Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Okun Land in Kogi, and Kwara states respectively.
The 27-page petition accused Buhari, Malami, Buratai and others of killing members of the petitioners’ group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part.
They were also accused of murder, deportation or forcible transfer of population, torture, rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity.
In a statement on Wednesday by Maxwell Adeleye, the Communication Manager to Akintoye, others who signed the petition with Akintoye and Ighoho are Chief Imam of Yoruba in Ilorin, Kwara State, Sheikh Raheem Aduranigba, Leader of Obinrin Oodua Agbaye, Chief Simisade Kuku, Leader of Yoruba Strategy Alliance, Babatunde Omololu, General Secretary of Ilana Omo Oodua, Arc. George Akinola, and 44 others.
Other Nigerian government leaders petitioned against are: Comptroller General of Customs, Hammid Alli, Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba, Chief of Army Staff, Farouk Yahaya, former Chief of Airforce, Sadiq Abubakar, former Commandant-General of NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Services, Mohammed Babandede and the Current Commandant-General of NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu.
In a letter to the petitioners’ lawyer, the ICC’s Head of Information and Evidence Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor, Mr. Mark P. Dilon, wrote that: “As soon as a decision is reached to formally commence investigation into this petition, we will inform you, in writing, and provide you, with reasons for this decision.
“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.”
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