A civil society organisation, the Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice, on Thursday disclosed that it has formally submitted complaint against the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, General Mohammadu Bahuri, at the International Criminal Court at The Hague in Netherlands over the 2011 post-election violence that led to the death of 11 corps members in Bauchi State.
Briefing journalists in Abuja, the group’s Secretary in charge of Documentation and Research, Dr. Ibrahim Buba, said the presentation of additional evidence at the ICC had become imperative in view of the Federal Government’s inability to prosecute Buhari over the matter.
Buba said: “The complaint sets out in detail the background to the 2011 Nigerian electoral violence and discusses the available evidence against General Buhari.
“The complaint analyses the crimes within the ICC Statute and the modes of liability applicable to General Buhari’s conduct.”
The organisation further alleged that the post election violence of 2011 in the country was orchestrated by Buhari’s inflammatory speeches.
In a video on Skype monitored by newsmen at the conference, counsel to the group, Prof. Goran Sluiter, who is a lawyer and partner at Prakken d’Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers in Amberdam, said he handed over the complaint against Buhari to the ICC Prosecutor at about 3pm on Thursday.
Speaking on why the group waited until close to the general election before bringing up the issue, Buba said the coalition had
filed the case against Buhari at The Hague since May 12, 2011, adding that the 66-page complaint was an addition to the existing evidence against the former Head of State.
He said: “The present complaint is not only motivated by the keen desire to deliver justice to the many victims of the 2011 electoral violence, but also serves to deter all those participating in future Nigerian elections and their supporters from committing similar crimes.”
Some officials of the group who were at the event included Comrade Umar Farouk, who is the General Secretary, and Babanagari Suleiman, the Organising Secretary.
They alleged that three other members of the association had received death threats from Buhari’s supporters.
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