The Federal Government has announced that 11 Boko Haram insurgents have been convicted in the last one year.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke said this at the 12th session of the Assembly of State Parties, World Forum Theatre, The Hague.
He said that the Federal Government was working on a compensation and rehabilitation scheme for victims of Boko Haram attacks in line with the recommendation of the presidential committee, which recently submitted its report.
Mr. Adoke added that the preliminary findings by the prosecutor and the president of the International Criminal Court had galvanized support for the government’s efforts to address security challenges associated with Boko Haram.
Attacks by the Boko Haram sect have been most devastating in Northern Nigeria with the State of Emergency recently extended in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
However government’s efforts have started yielding results. According to Mr. Adoke, government’s efforts have started yielding positive results.
He said,” The prosecution of those responsible for these crimes that the findings of the prosecutor, categorised as crimes against humanity has recorded 11 convictions in the past one-year; while the prosecution of several suspects for these crimes is ongoing.
“Nigeria is articulating a scheme of compensation and rehabilitation for victims of Boko Haram attacks in line with the recommendation of a presidential committee on dialogue and reconciliation.”
The AGF said Nigeria was supportive of the trust fund for victims of international crimes and called on state parties to contribute generously to the fund. He noted that the court could only succeed in its mandate with the cooperation and goodwill of state parties.
He stated that the country was concerned about the frosty relationship between the Court and the African Union.
This, Adoke said, appeared to have worsened over the years.
The AGF said, “The overwhelming number of indictments issued by the court in Africa, the court’s tendency to focus more on the pursuit of justice to the detriment of measures aimed at fostering peace and reconciliation and the non-recognition of customary international law immunities for serving Heads of State and Government have been thorny issues.”
He said Nigeria welcome the special segment dedicated to the issue of the indictment of sitting heads of state and government and its consequences on peace, stability and reconciliation.
According to him, Nigeria hopes that the frank exchanges between state parties will bring the challenges to the fore with a view to proffering solutions.
The solutions, he said, would further reinforce Nigeria’s support and cooperation with the court.
He stated, “It is in this connection that my delegation wishes to reaffirm the decision of the Extra Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union of 12th October 2013 on its relationship with the court.”
It is to be noted that the United States and the Uk among other nations have classified the Boko Haram sect as a terrorist group. The United Nations as well as adopted a similar posture in view of key affectations of its operations and the gross violation of such rights that the world body seeks to uphold and advocate.
