Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai
representing Ndokwa West/Ukwuani/Ndokwa East federal constituency of Delta
State, has stated that the time has come for those perpetrating mass
killings in Nigeria to be prosecuted under the International Criminal Court,
ICC, laws within the jurisdictions of Nigeria.
In an interview with dailypost in Abuja on a bill entitled: “domesticating the Roman Statute of
the International Criminal Court”, an international anti-genocide convention
which Nigeria was signatory in 2001, the lawmaker explained that the bill would
provide legal framework for sanctions of perpetrators of mass killings in
Nigeria.
Explaining further, he said
that Nigeria has peculiar cases of mass killings through the use of state
apparatus, noting that if the bill was passed into into law, those behind
such killings will no longer be let off the hook.
Ossai said, ”One of the
benefits of domesticating Roman Statute of the International Criminal Court
(ICC) is to provide legal framework for sanctions of perpetrators of mass
killings in Nigeria.
“This law is to make sure that
even if you are using state apparatus to perpetuate crimes, you cannot go Scot
free.
“Occasionally, you see mass
killings in our system. Somebody who midwifed killings would be brought to
justice under this law. ”
Reacting to reasons it took
almost two decades to key into ICC law, Ossai explained that it required
understanding of what the ICC law was all about, adding that the 8th National
Assembly has seen the need for the prosecution of war crimes on Nigeria soil,
hence the coming up of a bill to that effect.
He was optimistic that the bill
would scale third reading with experts having made inputs through public
hearings.
The lawmaker added that trial of
international crimes in Nigeria will ensure synergy between the country and the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to him, victims of war
crimes would have palliatives through a special trust fund, saying that the
National Assembly will oversight the trust fund as part of its responsibility
if the bill is passed into law.
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