Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged crimes of inhumanity against some former and serving military officers, including former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki.
The request is contained in a petition of January 19 to the Prosecutor of the ICC, Mrs Fatou Bensouda.
Falana urged the ICC prosecutor toinvestigate the allegations of the diversion of the security fund of $2.1 billion and N643 billion earmarked “by suspected perpetrators, with a view to determining whether these amount to crimes against humanity within the Court’s jurisdiction”.
He urged the court to invite representatives of the Federal Government to provide written or oral testimony.
The lawyer pleaded with the prosecutor to bring to justice those suspected to have deliberately underfunded the armed forces through widespread and systematic corruption.
He urged the government to fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the ICC by complying with the requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the criminal diversion of security fund and provide other support to the ICC.
The lawyer, whose firm represented a majority of the soldiers charged with mutiny, cowardly behaviour and sundry offences before the court-martial instituted by the former military authorities, said the only “offence” proved against the soldiers were that they had the temerity to demand weapons to fight Boko Haram.
Falana alleged that the insurgents have killed about 25,000 soldiers and civilians.