ICC should allow Nigeria to tackle Boko Haram -Anglican Primate

The Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Tuesday, appealed to the International Criminal Court, ICC, to give the Federal Government a chance to use its internal mechanism to solve the Boko Haram insurgence in the country.


ICC had on Monday, released a report through its Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and indicted Boko Haram leaders on crime against humanity, stating that it was now assessing whether the national authorities were conducting genuine proceedings in relation “to those who appear to bear the greatest responsibility for such crimes, and the gravity of such crimes”.

Bensouda was said to be considering issuance of warrant of arrest against the leaders of the sect, if government failed to take action through its own judicial system..

Okoh, who reacted in an interview with newsmen, shortly after declaring open a three-day Conference of Chancellors, Registrars and Legal Officers of the church at the Basilica of Grace in Abuja, said the internal mechanism employed by the government to resolve the matter was gradually yielding result.

The Primate explained that this was not to conclude that the church did not recognize the role played by the international community to curb the menace of the dreaded Islamic sect, which had killed and rendered thousands of Nigerians homeless, or did not sympathize with the victims of the violence.

He said:  “The Federal Government has a way of handling Boko Haram, and until the federal government decides to externalize the issue, it remains an internal affairs. So, if they said they want to take it to the international court, then, the federal government should initiate that, and if they want to handle it in our theirown way, I think the country should handle it.”The cleric maintained that the country had courts of competent jurisdiction to try any case, adding that the issue remained domestic until the government decided otherwise.

“The country can punish them, we have laws and regulations, those who offended us don’t have to go into ICC in Hague.
“The court in Nigeria is strong enough to try anybody, so if they want to send them (sect) to court, the court in the land should do that,” Okoh said.

The Primate admonished church officials to always work in a synergy with their Bishop to avoid disharmony in the diocese, stating that, the conference was conveyed in view of its significance to the overall development of the church.