NHRC To Investigate Buhari For 2011 Post Election Violence
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said that it would investigate roles allegedly played by Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 post-election violence that led to killing of many Nigerians in parts of the north. NHRC stated this yesterday at its Abuja headquarters while receiving a petition by the Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice (NCDJ) detailing Buhari’s alleged inciting roles in the 2011 post-election violence Buhari, who is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming elections, was the presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011.Buhari lost that election. In the aftermath, murderous thugs invaded some northern cities, maiming and killing hundreds over perceived rigged votes. Speaking through its spokesman, Yunana Shibkau, the NCDJ said Buhari should have been prosecuted for inciting the post-election violence in which, according to the group, 800 people died and 65,000 others were also made homeless. “The National Human Rights Commission was established for the promotion and protection of human rights of Nigerians. The Commission has received your petition and we will look into it. We will do the needful,” NHRC’s Director and Head Human Rights Institute stated while receiving the petition. The NCDJ has already asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the US government to bring charges against Buhari.
The NCDJ which had previously referred Buhari to the ICC in 2011, said in an earlier meeting that it decided to submit more evidence after the former military ruler emerged as the main candidate in February’s presidential elections. In its petition to the NHRC, the NCDJ reported several inciting utterances by some political actors and violent conduct of their supporters in the build up to the February elections. “At this crucial time in the political evolution of Nigeria we call on you to give our citizens the necessary support to ensure free, fair, violence free general elections. “It is our conviction that for Nigeria to have a violence free 2015 polls, we must identify the actors behind such disturbances and ensure that adequate punishment for violent acts instigation be meted out to them.” NCDJ’s petition read. ICC lawyer, Goran Sluiter in a statement dated January 21 accused the federal government of failing to prosecute Buhari despite “compelling” evidence linking the former head of state to the 2011 post-election violence.
Sluiter reported that based on available evidence, “there are compelling reasons to believe that crimes against humanity – including murder, torture, rape, forcible population transfer, persecution, and other inhumane acts – were committed in the context of the politically-motivated sectarian violence that immediately followed the Nigerian presidential elections of April 2011. “Due to the seriousness of these crimes and the lack of an adequate response by the Nigerian authorities, the prosecutor of the ICC will be asked to conduct investigations into alleged acts and their perpetrators, in particular former head of state General Muhammadu Buhari. “The evidence collected to date strongly suggests that the highly inflammatory public comments made by General Buhari —prior to, during, and immediately following the elections led directly to the deaths of over 800 people and the displacement of more that 65,000 individuals in April 2011.
The statement from the ICC lawyer noted that, “bringing those responsible for electoral violence to account would go a long way towards diminishing such threats and restoring faith and confidence in Nigeria’s political system.” The APC has since denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated. “They will not stop at anything to try to derail General Buhari,” said APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed said in a report monitored on Reuters. “I can see the hands of the government behind it”, he added.
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