The International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed a petition seeking an investigation into alleged “systemic kidnappings in Nigeria as crimes against humanity”.
The petition was dismissed by the pre-trial chamber II of
the ICC on September 1.
The development comes amid rising cases of kidnappings
across the country.
The decision was issued by Rosario Salvatore Aitala, the
presiding judge, alongside Sergio Godínez, and Haykel Mahfoudh.
In the decision published on the ICC website, the
three-member panel said the court’s registrar transmitted the petition filed,
by an unnamed individual, to the president of the pre-trial division on August
24, 2026.
The petition was titled “Formal Communication Requesting
Investigation into Systemic Kidnappings in Nigeria as Crimes Against Humanity”.
However, after the petition was assigned to the chamber on
August 26, 2026, the panel dismissed it for lacking “any legal basis”.
FG FAULTS ICC’S HANDLING OF ANONYMOUS PETITION
However, in a statement issued on Thursday, Lateef Fagbemi,
attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, said it was
improper for the president of the pre-trial division of the ICC to assign an
unverified filing from an anonymous person to the pre-trial chamber II.
Fagbemi said the petition was assigned without establishing
whether the chamber had the legal authority to handle the matter or whether the
complaint was manifestly frivolous.
“The Federal Government notes with serious concern that on
26th August 2026, the President of the Pre-Trial Division improperly initiated
a procedural process by assigning an unverified filing from an anonymous
submitter to Pre-Trial Chamber II, purportedly pursuant to Regulation 46(3) of
the Regulations of the Court,” the statement reads.
“This administrative assignment was executed without a
prior, reasoned threshold determination on the competence of the Pre-Trial
Chamber or whether the communication was manifestly frivolous, thereby
breaching the foundational procedural safeguards established under the Court’s
own regulations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, internal administrative
guidelines cannot be used to bypass the strict rules established under the Rome
Statute.
“The authority to evaluate information or request an
investigation rests solely with the Prosecutor of the ICC, or through formal
referrals by a State Party or the UN Security Council. The Rome Statute gives
neither the President of the Pre-Trial Division nor any Pre-Trial Chamber the
power to receive anonymous petitions or interfere in the internal security
matters of a sovereign nation.
“The Federal Government emphasizes that such procedural
breaches risk casting an unnecessary shadow over the integrity of the Court’s
judicial processes.
“Unchecked administrative entertainments of unverified,
anonymous requests have the potential to impugn and strain the progress, mutual
respect, and constructive cooperation painstakingly built over the years
between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the International Criminal Court.”.
Fagbemi assured Nigerians that ICC had not initiated any
investigation against the Nigerian state or its institutions.
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