Lawyer accuses Dasuki, others of crimes against humanity, recommend ICC trial

chika ebuzor

December 10, 2015 4:39 AM

Many high profile Nigerians, including the owner of DAAR communications PLC, Chief Raymond Dokpesi have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mr. Femi Falana(SAN).

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana has accused the suspects in the arms purchase scandal of crimes against humanity.

According to the News Nigeria, he said “By diverting the huge funds for arms procurement, the suspects deliberately caused the death of not less than 25,000 ill-equipped soldiers and unarmed civilians, including children. For committing such grave crimes against humanity, the suspects should be referred to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague for prosecution.”

Falana also said when he got wind of the fact that the $1bn approved by National Assembly for the procurement of arms was diverted, he wrote a letter to the former Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

He said “I wrote to the then Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to demand an inventory of the arms bought with the $1bn loan. In her embarrassing reaction to my request, the minister stated that she was not in a position to account for the loan!

“When I persisted in demanding transparency and accountability, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, claimed that the armed forces led by him lacked the equipment to fight the insurgents.”

Femi Falana contested the Ekiti State governorship in 2007, on the platform of the National Conscience Party.

A former National Security Adviser (NSA) was implicated by a committee set up to investigate the various arms purchase deals since 2007.

Read: AIT Chairman charged to court over alleged $2bn arms deal fraud [PHOTOS]

Many high profile Nigerians, including the owner of DAAR communications PLC, Chief Raymond Dokpesi have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Dokpesi was recently charged to court and remanded in the custody of the EFCC.

chika ebuzor