The Federal Government has been asked to ensure the investigation and prosecution of sponsors of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, and ensure their prosecution at the International Criminal Court.
A group of legal practitioners, Lawyers United for Equality and Human Rights Advocacy, in a letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), asked the Federal Government to avoid the grave mistake of government in the past that led to the intermittent resurrection of the Niger Delta militancy.
The convener of the group, Edward Omaga, said recent developments in Nigeria, which are capable of causing serious political upheavals, are pointers to the fact that top politicians in Borno State, who created Boko Haram, are still in touch with their “foot soldiers”.
The lawyers wrote: “We are afraid that the senseless killings by this animalistic bunch will not stop unless their sponsors are identified, tried in our local courts or dragged to the International Criminal Court at The Hague and accordingly imprisoned for facilitating heinous crimes against humanity. This is the only way that enduring peace would return to the North and Nigeria in general.
The lawyers said it is their duty as a group of refined legal minds to fight and preserve Nigeria, the country that gave every Nigerian a home and heritage.
The group condoled with those who lost their loved ones to insurgencies and insisted that the time to end Boko Haram is now otherwise the innocent blood spilt over the years will haunt us.
The group is an umbrella body of pro-democracy, concerned and patriotic Nigerian lawyers committed to true democratic principles bringing to cognizance equity, fairness and respect for human rights and the rule of law in line with the change mantra of the present administration.
