Security
agencies are on red alert in six northern states following last weekend alleged
killing of 185 civilians, including children and women in Baga, Kukawa Local
Government Area of Borno State, during a bloody clash between Boko Haram
insurgents and a combined team of soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force
(JTF) and their counterparts from Niger Republic and Chad. In effect, more
military personnel and arms have been moved to the affected areas.
Saturday Sun gathered that the nation’s security high command
took the decision to put law enforcement agencies in Borno, Yobe, Kano, Kaduna,
Gombe and Bauchi states on red alert following widespread local and
international condemnation of the heavy civilian casualty recorded in the clash
that claimed many lives. “Intelligence reports coming in indicate that the
condemnations of the military action in Baga may serve as a moral booster to
the Boko Haram terrorists to launch simultaneous and coordinated devastating
attacks in the six identified states in the coming days.
This is the basis for the directive to all armed commands in the
states to beef up their intelligence gathering and be ready for rapid response.
In essence, they were all put on red alert,” a source involved in the
coordination of the Federal Government anti-terrorism efforts in Abuja
disclosed. The officer said some of the military formations in the concerned
states have “been reinforced with more personnel and their armoury beefed up in
the coming days because of the advancement noticed in the firepower and weapons
used by the insurgents so that they can respond appropriately to any
incursion.”
This development, it was gathered, is hinged on the return and
regrouping of islamist militants earlier dispersed in northern Mali through the
aerial bombardments of their strongholds by French troops. “Since the French
left Mali a few weeks ago, the rebels in the North of the country have again
been regrouping to wreak havoc in countries that participated in the war
against the rebels in Mali. An instance of that was what we saw in the massive
bombing of French embassy in Tripoli this week.
The popular belief is that they have moved into some northern
states with a lot of the sophisticated weapons taken out of Libya,” the source
added. Meanwhile, there are indications that a group of northern leaders have
concluded plans to drag President Goodluck Jonathan and other senior officials
of his administration before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war
crime offences.
One of the leaders, who confirmed the development to Saturday
Sun, said: “While we would not condone the excesses of the Boko Haram sect, we
condemn strongly the senseless killing of innocent women and children in Baga
and to forestall future occurrence of things like this, some of us have decided
to file a petition at the ICC for war crime charges against the president and
some of his lieutenants.
Former President Obasanjo committed the same crime in Odi,
Bayelsa and Zaki Biam in Benue State and went free. We won’t allow this to go
without someone being brought to book, either now or in the nearest future.”
Another northern leader and Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) chieftain, Senator
JKN Waku, told Saturday Sun he is aware of such move and will support the
petitioners. According to him, “we value every single life, but what right has
President Jonathan to encourage this kind of massacre of villagers, who are not
Boko Haram members.
Why didn’t the president order JTF to do the same thing in
Bayelsa when MEND killed 12 JTF men at a go? This is surely a calculated attack
on the North and someone must be made to account for these crimes some day very
soon.” Also speaking on the same issue, ACF spokesman, Anthony Sani, said the
killing in Baga is an “unsavoury incident,” adding that the pro-North group
will wait to get the outcome of investigations launched “to unveil the facts
behind the killing.” At the international level, Washington-based Human Rights
Watch (HRW) told Saturday Sun it has commenced investigations into the
allegations of massacre in Baga.
According to the organisation’s researcher on Nigeria, Eric
Guttschuss, “Human Rights Watch is investigating allegations of extra
judicial killings by soldiers in Baga, Borno State in Nigeria. The outcome of
our findings will determine our line of action.” He spoke in a telephone
interview with Saturday Sun from his head office in Washington DC, USA. In the
same vein, an official of the ICC has said that the alleged killing of
women and children in Baga has made it imperative for the world body to review
its preliminary report on its initial examination of developments in Nigeria.
The ICC had, in its 2012 report, relied largely on findings by
the HRW. The official said: “The preliminary examination of a situation may be
initiated by: (a) a decision of the Prosecutor, taking into consideration
information on crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court, including
information sent by individuals or groups, states, intergovernmental or
non-governmental organisations; (b) a referral from a State Party or the United
Nations (“UN”) Security Council; or (c) a declaration pursuant to article 12(3)
of the Statute by a State which is not a Party to the Statute.”
While noting that so far more than 15 petitions on war crimes
had been received from Nigeria, the ICC said: “During the reporting period, the
OTP (Office of the Prosecutor) has maintained and developed contacts with
senders of article 15 communications, academics and researchers specialised on
Nigeria, and Nigerian NGOs as well as international human rights NGOs.”
While declaring that “Boko Haram has committed the following
acts constituting crimes against humanity: (i) murder under article 7(1)(a) and
(ii) persecution under article 7(1) (h) of the Statute,” the ICC submitted:
“Although allegations against Nigerian security forces in the context of their
operations against Boko Haram may reflect serious human rights violations, the
information available at this stage does not permit a finding of a reasonable
basis to believe that such acts were committed pursuant to or in furtherance of
a State or organizational policy to attack the civilian population.
There is also currently no reasonable basis to believe that the
confrontations between the security forces and Boko Haram amount to an armed
conflict.” The body, however, stressed: “These initial assessments may be
revisited in the light of new facts or evidence.” The ICC official added: “If
the allegations that women and children massacred in Baga are therefore,
confirmed, that may constitute new facts or evidence to establish crimes
against humanity against some government officials and security commanders.”
Source: Sun
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