Anti-Igbo Remarks: Oba of Lagos Under Investigation – ICC

Anti-Igbo Remarks: Oba of Lagos Under Investigation – ICC

image

The International Criminal
Court has commenced
investigation of the Oba of
Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, for
statements made about the Igbo’s in the build-up to the Lagos governorship election.

Mr. Akiolu had vowed that Igbos in Lagos who voted against his preferred
candidate, Akinwunmi
Ambode, would sink in the
Lagoon. Mr. Ambode of the APC eventually defeated Jimi Agbaje of the PDP in a highly
contested election.

The son of a late former
governor of old Anambra
State, Josef Onoh, on April 21, petitioned the ICC on the statement and asked the world jury to investigate the
threat and bring the monarch to justice.

The ICC had earlier in the
year acknowledged receipt of Mr. Onoh’s petition and
promised to give
consideration to his request.

Mr. Onoh petitioned the ICC saying he believes that Mr. Akiolu’s threat amounted to a call for violence to be perpetrated against the Igbo in Lagos in the event that the APC governorship candidate loses the election, which he noted violates Article 20 of the International convention and elimination of all forms
of racial discrimination.

“Had the threat been made
by any lesser person we
would have dismissed same as an idle threat, but coming from the Oba of Lagos himself, it was a call to arms and an incitement to violence
against the Igbos,” Mr. Onoh wrote.

In a second correspondence to Mr. Onoh with reference
number OTP-CR-140/15,
dated August 13 2015, ICC’s Head of the Information & Evidence unit in the office of the prosecutor, M.P. Dillion,
said they were analyzing the situation identified in his petition with the assistance of other related
communications and other available information.

Part of the ICC’s latest letter to Mr. Onoh reads: “Under article 53 of the Rome statute, the prosecutor must consider
whether there is a reasonable basis to
believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court have been
committed, the gravity of the crimes,
whether national systems are investigating and prosecuting the relevant crimes, and the interests of justice.”

Acknowledging receipt of the petition,
Mr. Dillon said: “This communication
has been duly entered in the communications register of the office.”

Newsweb Express

Newsweb

At Newsweb Express we don't only break the news, we are committed to investigative and developmental journalism

You may also like...

1 Response

  1. December 3, 2023

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on that Topic: newswebexpress.com/anti-igbo-remarks-oba-of-lagos-under-investigation-icc/ […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *