The Eagle OnlineThe Eagle Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Column
  • Business
  • Life & Style
    • Crime
    • R&D Health
    • Diet and Fitness
    • Intimacy
  • Entertainment
    • Photos
    • Fashion
    • Movies
    • Music
  • en English
    af Afrikaansar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchel Greekha Hausaiw Hebrewig Igboit Italianko Koreanml Malayalampt Portugueseru Russianes Spanishtr Turkishyo Yoruba
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advert Rates
  • Submit News
  • Contact Us
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube LinkedIn RSS
Subscribe
The Eagle OnlineThe Eagle Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Column
  • Business
  • Life & Style
    • Crime
    • R&D Health
    • Diet and Fitness
    • Intimacy
  • Entertainment
    • Photos
    • Fashion
    • Movies
    • Music
en English
af Afrikaansar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchel Greekha Hausaiw Hebrewig Igboit Italianko Koreanml Malayalampt Portugueseru Russianes Spanishtr Turkishyo Yoruba
The Eagle OnlineThe Eagle Online
Home»Featured»Falana reacts to complaint filed against him at ICC
Featured

Falana reacts to complaint filed against him at ICC

By The Eagle OnlineNovember 13, 2020No Comments8 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Femi Falana, reacted to the complaint filed against him at the International Criminal Court.

Joseph Nwaegbu, Pathfind Attorneys and MNBI had earlier in the week dragged Falana to the ICC for allegedly backing genocide in Kaduna State.

In a detailed reaction to the complaint before ICC, Falana, in the article titled: “Let the guilty be afraid,” said: “Mr. Joseph Nwaegbu/Pathfind Attorneys/MNBI and their shadowy minders and paymasters obviously think that the ICC is a forum for frivolities, especially of the type we have gotten accustomed to in Nigeria… They will sooner or later know that the ICC is not such a place. I welcome them to pursue their petition. I move around the world and I have easy and undisturbed passage.

“From December 12 to 14, 2015, a massacre of our compatriots took place in Kaduna. The group targeted by the massacre has put the number at over 1000. The sheer scale of the genocidal event is however imaginable to independent minds by a subsequent disclosure, by the secretary to the Kaduna State government, in an official submission to a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the incident, of the secret burial, in mass graves, of 347 of the victims. According to this official, 191 of the corpses, taken from the Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria, were buried in a mass grave in Mando area of Kaduna State. The same fate befell 156 other corpses conveyed from the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. The offence of the victims? Well, no more than that they were members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), adherents of the Shi’ite interpretation of the religion of Islam, who, in the course of a peaceful protest, denied the right of way to a commander of the Nigerian Army.

“I am not a Shi’ite or a member of the IMN. But I am a human being and a Nigerian. Just like the victims were. I remembered the regrets of Martin Niemoller regarding the do-nothing attitude of those who should have known better, when the warning signals of the darkness that eventually enveloped humanity under the jackboots of the Nazis and their superior-race ideology began manifesting. According to Niemoller:

First they came for the socialists
and I did not speak out –
because I was not a socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out –
Because I was not a unionist

Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out –
because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak for me

“The event of December 12, 2015 happened just a few months into the first term of our current democratic rulers. As morning shows the day, events since then have shown it was a precursor of things to come, as Martin Niemoller poignantly warned those who would rather sit in their comfort zone and watch while evil stalks their land because they are either the evil doers or are wallowing under a false sense of assurance of their own position. I feared that unless we shouted and called-out the perpetrators, they would be emboldened to match from Shi’ites to non-shiites, to anyone who happens to hold a view different from the one they cherish, or who dares look at their god-head with eyes other than that of worship and devotion.

“The latest has been the use of men of the Nigerian Army to wage genocidal attack on peaceful and unarmed #EndSARS protesters, especially at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos. A full scale war declared illegally in Port Harcourt has claimed the lives of scores of unarmed civilians.

“Martin Niemoller was right, and I was right to follow his admonition by speaking out loud, and taking up the cause of my fellow human beings and fellow citizens, the victims of the genocide that took place in Kaduna. Kaduna has been followed with several occurrences of similar nature in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. Crocodiles have smiled, while the Python has danced, winced, cried, raged and roared across the length and breathe of Nigeria, gobbling-up citizens who dared to be different or ask for accountability. The latest has been the use of men of the Nigerian Army to wage genocidal attack on peaceful and unarmed #EndSARS protesters, especially at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos. A full scale war declared illegally in Port Harcourt has claimed the lives of scores of unarmed civilians.

“Never on my own side have I ever used anything other than the law to resist the attempts return us to 1984. For instance, when these elements suddenly woke up one morning in October 2019 and gave to themselves the power to go on the streets to conduct military operations against civilians, under the guise of a so-called Operation Positive Identification, I instituted the Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1939/19 with a view to bringing them back to the path of constitutional rectitude. In the case, the Federal High Court declared such operation illegal. The presiding judge, the Honourable Justice Aikawa issued a restraining injunction and said:

“‘It would be outside the powers of the 3rd Respondent (the Nigerian Army) for it to parade the streets in the rest of the country and demand citizens to show their identity cards and the like. If there is any security need for that, my view is that it should be left in the hands of the police, which is the security agency vested with these functions as spelt out by Section 4 of the Police Act.’

“It was because they have no respect for the rule and the duly constituted courts that these elements have persisted in dabbling into politics and civil affairs, as recently shown in their deployment of soldiers in full battle gear and war formation against peaceful protesters. They should learn from their counterparts in the U.S.A who, despite all encouragements by the president of the country, refused to run such errands for those in transient political authority.

“Just as the Kaduna State Judicial Commission of Inquiry has not thwarted the efforts at the international level to bring the powerful individuals responsible for the Kaduna genocide to book, the current exertions by those responsible for the latest use of men of the Nigerian army to massacre peaceful protesters are sure to be in vain.

“Thanks to the advancement in science and technology, it has been impossible to bury or sweep under the carpet the Kaduna genocide, because the world has moved beyond what obtained in 1984 when the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) were the major means of information gathering and mass dissemination of news. And thanks to the international community, there has also come into existence the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, by which state actors can be held accountable for crimes such as was perpetrated in Kaduna in December 2015. So, thanks to this international convention, the era of the Unknown Soldier is long dead and buried. It is now no longer possible for any state actor to use his or her control of the executive or influence over judicial levers of state power to sweep crimes of these magnitudes under the carpet. Just as the Kaduna State Judicial Commission of Inquiry has not thwarted the efforts at the international level to bring the powerful individuals responsible for the Kaduna genocide to book, the current exertions by those responsible for the latest use of men of the Nigerian army to massacre peaceful protesters are sure to be in vain.

“I hear that those who (by virtue of the state offices they hold relative to these matters) are sure to be called-upon by the ICC for explanation are going about trying to divert attention away from themselves. I even hear that one such attempt has, in a complaint to the ICC, named me, Femi Falana, as responsible for allegedly instigating the violent #EndSARS protests that led to the killing of innocent citizens, wanton destruction of properties and other heinous crimes against humanity in Nigeria. According to online reports, the alleged petitioner is Joseph Nwaegbu, Esq. a senior associate of Pathfind Attorneys on behalf of Make Nigeria Better Initiative (MNBI).

“Mr. Joseph Nwaegbu/Pathfind Attorneys/MNBI and their shadowy minders and paymasters obviously think that the ICC is a forum for frivolities, especially of the type we have gotten accustomed to in Nigeria (like, government and government officials hiring praise-singers or protesters to counter-balance genuine protesters!). They will sooner or later know that the ICC is not such a place. I welcome them to pursue their petition. I move around the world and I have easy and undisturbed passage. I hope the shadowy minders and paymasters of Mr. Joseph Nwaegbu/Pathfind Attorneys/MNBI are able to do likewise. In fact, I challenge them to dare!

“To the Guilty, Be Afraid. Be very afraid!”

Femi Falana Joseph Nwaegbu Kaduna State Pathfind Attorneys and MNBI
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Group urges APC to expel Amosun for anti-party activities in Ogun

August 9, 2022Updated:August 9, 2022

Sanwo-Olu congratulates Baba Adinni of Lagos, Shekh Abou at 100 

August 9, 2022Updated:August 9, 2022

Fire outbreak at EKEDC power station in Lagos Island

August 9, 2022Updated:August 9, 2022

Ikoyi building collapse due to negligence by agencies – coroner

August 9, 2022Updated:August 9, 2022




  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment

North-Central APC members protest Muslim-Muslim ticket, reject Lalong

August 9, 2022

2023: Buhari tasks political leaders to be focused, work for unity of Nigeria

August 9, 2022

2023: INEC declares it’s yet to recognize Lawan, Akpabio as Senatorial candidates

August 9, 2022

2023: Real issues should guide our conversations, not religion — Nwabufo

August 9, 2022

Sen. Briamoh gives scholarships to orphanage children on 80th birthday

August 9, 2022

Police nab man for stabbing a Lottery Manager to death in Lagos

August 9, 2022

Insecurity: Ogun Police Command dispels kidnap rumour on Kara bridge

August 9, 2022

Insecurity: IG seeks trust between police, communities

August 9, 2022

EFCC arrests 29 suspected internet fraudsters in Ibadan

August 9, 2022

Driver docked for allegedly killing man in Ibadan

August 9, 2022

Eniola Ajao splashes 52m on  ÀJÀKÀ’JÚ, drags Sola Sobowale to Oyo forest

August 9, 2022

Nigeria’s box office releases data for July revenue, cinema visits

August 9, 2022

I paid Kizz Daniel $60,000, begged him on my knees to perform — Show Promoter

August 9, 2022

Nollywood Movie Director and Writer, Biyi Bandele, is dead

August 9, 2022

How my uncle raped, impregnated me at 15 — Actress Toyin Lawani

August 9, 2022




Latest Stories

North-Central APC members protest Muslim-Muslim ticket, reject Lalong

August 9, 2022

Broadband penetration hits 44.5% as NCC reviews Short Code services

August 9, 2022

Group urges APC to expel Amosun for anti-party activities in Ogun

August 9, 2022

Serena retires from tennis

August 9, 2022

Sanwo-Olu congratulates Baba Adinni of Lagos, Shekh Abou at 100 

August 9, 2022




MOST READ

ICYMI: I had threesome with Apostle Suleman, Iyabo Ojo — Nollywood actress

Entertainment August 1, 2022

Recall that The Eagle Online reported that an Instagram blogger, Gistlover, listed celebrities intimate with Suleman.

NNPC announces increase in petrol pump price from today

July 20, 2022

ICYMI: Kid comedienne, Emmanuella, speaks on reported marriage proposal from Ned Nwoko

July 11, 2022

Doctor filmed putting penis in woman’s mouth during C-Section + Photo

July 14, 2022




About Us
About Us

The Eagle Online is a daily online newspaper published by Premium Eagle Media Limited in Nigeria. The Eagle Online was established in 2011 by experienced journalist, Dotun Oladipo.
The Eagle Online features news from trending Breaking News to Politics, Business and Economy, Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle and more.

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
News
  • Latest News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • World News
Updates
  • Distant Voices
  • Column
  • Health
  • Diet and Fitness
  • Life and Style
  • Worship
  • Intimacy

Sign up to receive the latest news and trends in your inbox.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

© 2022 The Eagle Online. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advert Rates
  • Submit News
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.