Jihadists must not be allowed to overrun Nigeria — Intersociety warns new ICC leaders

An intersociety group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law has charged the new leaders of the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to allow Nigeria explode under their watch.

The group gave the charge in a statement titled ‘Nigeria must not explode under your watch’ jointly signed by its Board Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Ndidiamaka Catherine Bernard, Head, International Justice and Human Rights; and Chidimma Evan Udegbunam, head of Campaign and Publicity, on Thursday.

The group while encouraging new leadership of ICC to remain focus on its objectives of securing justice, saving of lives and properties, checkmating heinous crimes, warned against allowing Jihadists overrun Nigeria.

The group explained that the Nation was over five years ago hijacked by state actor jihadists who masqueraded as ‘democrats’ adding that the jihadists have seized state power and coercive instruments.

It also said that the jihadists are being assembled from within and beyond borders, nothing that it explains repeated warnings by the United States of steady assemblage and movement of ISIS, el-Qaida and their affiliates towards Christian held Southern Nigeria.

It alleged the present Government of Nigeria of responding by concocting more than 50 lies and disguises, since 2016, the commencement of the jihad project, to deceive and divert the attention of the international community and other actors.

The group further cautioned against allowing Jihadists overrun adding that if allowed the Nation will explode and not only that millions will perish and trillions of naira worth of properties lost, but also the humanitarian crises and catastrophes that will follow, will submerge or swallow the entire world and its major Continents particularly the Continents of Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Gulf States and West, Central, North, Southern and East Africa.

The statement reads partly: “The new leaders of the International Criminal Court, comprising a new President, a new Vice President, a new Second Vice President and a new Chief Prosecutor must not allow Nigeria, an explosively populated country of over 200 million mixed citizens with over 370 ethnic nationalities, three most populated tribes and multi religiously-cum-culturally composed; to explode under their watch. This is because ICC was not created to ‘preside over holocaust or genocide’ or idly watch them being perpetrated by criminal and genocidal state actors or their non state actor counterparts or both, but to investigatively identify and smoke out ‘triggers’ of same such as profiteering triggers and perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and other internationally prohibited acts and have them objectively investigated, arrested, prosecuted and convicted and by so doing, secure justice, save lives and properties and prevent or checkmate such heinous crimes, punish their perpetrators and deter others.

“Jihadists Must Not Be Allowed To Overrun Nigeria: The coming on board of the newly elected leaders of ICC comes at crucial time when every single diplomatic, political and justice effort is urgently needed to save Nigeria, already at the nadir of intractable explosion. The raw or stark truth, being effortlessly camouflaged and disguised both locally and internationally, is that Nigeria was over five years ago hijacked by state actor jihadists who masqueraded as ‘democrats’ and today, the jihadists have substantially if not totally seized state power and coercive instruments. Through the control of state power and coercive instruments including armed forces, open and spy police, the Nigerian state actor jihadists, both at the federal level and in northern Muslim controlled states have not only hijacked and structured the country’s security forces along ethno-jihadist lines but also ‘imported’ Sudanese modeled ‘Janjaweed’ jihadist affiliates and have them armed with sophisticated small arms and light weapons and moved into ancestral bushes, farmlands and forests belonging to indigenous ethnic nationalities of Christian and traditional religious faith.

“At the full knowledge and support or conspiracy of the same Government in Nigeria, the jihadists are being assembled from within and beyond borders. These explain repeated warnings by the United States of steady assemblage and movement of ISIS, el-Qaida and their affiliates towards Christian held Southern Nigeria and in all these, the present Government of Nigeria has only responded by concocting more than 50 lies and disguises, since 2016 (commencement of the jihad project), to deceive and divert the attention of the international community and other watchers or actors. Under the watch and conspiracy of same Government, jihadist insurgencies have escalated and multiplied in numbers, reaching as high as 21 in this April 2021, from only four in June 2015. In all these, too, the jihadist elements within the country’s security forces and their leaderships as well as key actors in the country’s corridors of power are undeniably responsible for the escalation and multiplication.

“Nigerian Humanitarian Crises Will Swallow The World: It is therefore long settled among conflict and security studies’ experts that in the event Nigeria explodes, not only that millions will perish and trillions of naira worth of properties lost, but also the humanitarian crises and catastrophes that will follow, will submerge or swallow the entire world and its major Continents particularly the Continents of Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Gulf States and West, Central, North, Southern and East Africa. Signs of the country going into intractable explosion and implosion are steadily emerging from left, right and center. Already, there are irrefutable evidence of embryonic counter ethno-religious insurgencies speedily rearing their ugly heads in the Christian held Eastern Nigeria and in two years time or less, Southeast, South-south, Southwest and Christian held areas of North-central, Northeast (Taraba and Adamawa, etc) and Northwest (Southern Kaduna, etc) are likely to be home to motley of ‘indigeno-religious’ insurgencies or “Soldiers of Christ/Moses”. This is more so when the present Nigerian security forces are not only Muslim dominated and controlled but also widely perceived as “security forces of Fulani-Hausa Muslims”. The Muslim controlled security forces are also recklessly and calamitously breeding “citizens’ reprisal radicalism” by heightening their violent clampdowns and crackdowns on Christian citizens of Eastern Nigeria.”

Intersociety hailed the election of new President and Chief Prosecutor, also commended the lifting of sanctions including travel ban on key ICC officials by the Joe Biden Government of the United States.

While heartily congratulating the new ICC Chief Prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan QC, a British migrant Muslim lawyer, elected on 12th Feb 2021 and the trio of new ICC President, Judge Piotr Hofmanski from Poland, new First Vice President, Judge (Madam) Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza from Peru and Second Vice President, Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua from Democratic Republic of Congo, elected for three years on 11th March 2021; Intersociety also strongly charges them to pick up the pieces and move the ICC solidly forward.