ICC Acknowledges Petition Against Buhari By Yoruba Self-Determination Activists
The International Criminal Court has acknowledged the receipt of petition written against President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of Federation, Abubakar Malami; former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai and former Inspectors General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and Muhammed Adamu.
The petition was signed by the leader of Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof. Banji Akintoye; Yoruba activist Chief Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho and 49 Yoruba self-determination groups.
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The Communication Secretary of Ilana Omo Oodua, Maxwell Adeleye, said in a statement on Wednesday that the ICC formally notified the group that it had received the petition.
The Yoruba self-determination groups in the petition filed at the ICC on their behalf by an international lawyer, Aderemilekun Omojola, accused the Nigerian leaders of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Yoruba People of Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Okunland in Kogi, and Kwara states respectively.
Some other leaders of Yoruba self-determination groups who signed the petition along with Akintoye and Ighoho are Chief Imam of Yoruba in Ilorin, Kwara State, Shielk Raheem Aduranigba; leader of Obinrin Oodua Agbaye, Chief Simisade Kuku, Leader of Yoruba Strategy Alliance, Babatunde Omololu, General Secretary of Ilana Omo Oodua, George Akinola, and 44 others.
The ICC in a letter to the petitioners’ lawyer, by its Head of Information and Evidence Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor, Mr. Mark P. Dilon, said investigation would soon commence into the allegations
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The letter read, “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.”
The 27-page petition accused Buhari, Malami, Buratai and others of genocide offences such as 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.
The petitioners also accused Nigerians leaders of crimes against humanity, such as murder, deportation or forcible transfer of population, torture, rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity.
