The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has re-affirmed the resolve of her office to prosecute anyone, who incites or engages in violence ahead of the March 28 and April 11, 2015 general elections.
The warning came about a week after the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation said it would report the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan, to the ICC for making inciting statements against APC supporters in Calabar, Cross River State.
The ICC prosecutor said in a statement on Monday that violence had continued to plague the country despite the visit of delegates from her office to the country between February 3 and 5, 2015, warning the nation against inciting violence ahead of the forthcoming general elections
The statement was titled, ‘Statement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, ahead of elections in Nigeria: I reiterate my call to refrain from violence’.
The statement read, “Following my statement of the February 2, 2015, and my Office’s subsequent visit to Nigeria from the February 3 to 5, I reiterate my previous message.
“At a time when abhorrent levels of violence already plague parts of the country, I recall that the International Criminal Court (ICC or the Court) has jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on the territory of Nigeria.
“Any person, who incites or engages in acts of violence in the context of the upcoming elections or otherwise – including by ordering, inciting, encouraging or contributing to the commission of crimes that fall within ICC’s jurisdiction – is liable to prosecution; either by Nigerian Courts or by the ICC.
“No one should doubt my Office’s resolve to prosecute individuals responsible for the commission of ICC crimes, whenever necessary.”
The statement said Nigeria was among the nine nations where the ICC prosecutor’s office was conducting “preliminary examinations relating to situations.”
