The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Friday vowed to sue the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika and six unnamed others to the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC) in the Hague over their alleged role in last year’s violence in Bama, and Giwa Barracks all in Borno State while battling members of the Islamic Terrorists sect, Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, a one day meeting of Northern Emirs ended in Kaduna last Thursday with the Emirs saying that there was a plot to further divide the north on religious and ethnic basis for the selfish end of some interest groups.
A statement signed by the Chairman of the NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi in Kaduna said that the former Army Chief and six others were to be charged for extra-judicial killings by soldiers in Bama.
According to NEF, the former Army Chief will also be charged with the other six for strangulation of civilians in Giwa Barrack, in underground detention centre.
“It would be recalled that, the Northern Elders Forum had set up two committees of legal and security experts to investigate the details of the gruesome use of force against unarmed civilians in Bama and other parts of Borno State and forward appropriate recommendations.
”At our meeting in Kaduna on the 15th January, 2014, we received the reports of the two committees on Security and Legal Matters, regarding extra-judicial killings by soldiers in Bama and the act of strangulating civilians in Giwa Barracks using an underground detention centre, while depositing the corpses in hospital.
”The Forum has therefore resolved to harmonise the reports of the two committees, preparatory to filing a case of extra-judicial killings by the Nigerian Army under the then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Azubuike Ihejirika and six others.
“The reports will be harmonised at our emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, January 22nd ,2014 for further action”, the statement read.
Meanwhile, part of the comminque of the Northern Emirs observed“That some interest groups are using religion and ethnicity to bring about divisions within the society to the detriment of the development of the nation.
“That some interest groups are putting undue pressure on traditional rulers to be partisan to the detriment of their position as fathers to all.
“That some divisive elements from within and outside the North are causing animosity and distrust amongst the different communities in the North thereby weakening the hitherto strong bond of unity that existed in the region before and during the first republic”.