Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has sought authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber of the court to open an investigation into cases of abduction of schoolchildren in Northern part of Nigeria.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) disclosed this in a statement by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, on Sunday.
The statement said the court will also probe the closure of schools, and the “persistent failure of Nigerian authorities” to end the kidnapping.
It said the ICC prosecutor’s decision followed a petition sent to the court by SERAP.
SERAP had in the petition dated 4 September 2021 urged the ICC prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan, QC, to “push for those suspected to be responsible and complicit in the commission of these serious crimes, to be invited and tried by the ICC.”
SERAP’s petition read in part: “Senior government officials know well or ought to know that their failure to prevent these crimes will violate the children’s human rights and dignity.
“The absence of any tangible and relevant investigation or prosecution in Nigeria suggests that the authorities are unwilling or unable to carry out genuine investigation or prosecution of those suspected to be responsible for and complicit in the abduction of students.
“The consequences of persistent abductions of students, closure of schools, and the failure to provide safe and enabling learning environments despite federal and state authorities yearly budgeting some N241.2 billion of public funds as “security votes”, are similar to those of the offences in article 7(1).
“More than 10,000 schools have been reportedly closed in at least seven northern states over the fear of attack and abduction of pupils and members of staff. The states are Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Niger and Yobe.
“An estimated 1.3 million Nigerian children have been affected by frequent raids on schools by suspected terrorists. Some 13 million Nigerian children are out of school nationwide. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 1,000 students have been abducted from schools in northern Nigeria since December 2020.
“Families and parents have reportedly resulted to paying the terrorists thousands of dollars as ransom to secure the release of their children. An estimated $18.34 million was reportedly paid in ransoms between June 2011 and the end of March 2020.
“Nigerian authorities have also failed and/or neglected to satisfactorily address the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014, which prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. According to reports, more than 100 of those girls are still missing.
ICC prosecutor in a letter signed on the prosecutor’s behalf by Mark P. Dillon, Head of the Information and Evidence Unit, with reference number OTP-CR-363/21, and dated 22 October 2021 confirmed to SERAP that “the criteria for opening an investigation into a string of abductions and closure of schools in some parts of Nigeria have been met.”
SERAP said : “By this decision, the ICC prosecutor has taken a significant step toward ensuring that those suspected to be responsible for grave crimes against Nigerian schoolchildren are exposed, and held to account.”
