A lawyer, Joseph Nwaegbu, has filed a criminal complaint against activist-lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), before the International Criminal Court in Hague, Netherlands, for allegedly instigating the #EndSARS protests.
The petitioner said the protest led to killing of innocent citizens, destruction of property, among others.
His complaint, dated November 4, 2020, was addressed to the Office of Madame Fatou Bensouda, the ICC Prosecutor.
Nwaegbu, who claimed to be acting for his group, Make Nigeria Better Initiative (MNBI), said: “On the recent #EndSARS protests, which turned violent across the country, we beg to submit that the role played by Mr. Falana before, during and after what observers described as ‘the mother of all protests in Nigeria’ is not only ignoble but criminal.”
The petitioner accused Falana of spreading fake news to further incite the youths against the government, which he said resulted in killings and destruction of properties.
Nwaegbu added: “We have seen how the type of incitement spearheaded by Mr. Falana worked in Rwanda and other parts of the world and the resultant effect was genocide.
“In the case of Nigeria, the misguided youths, who acted based on Falana’s posture, character and utterances, employed crude methods to illegally murder about 22 police officers in cold blood during the #EndSARS protests that lasted between October 3, 2020, till October 21, 2020…
“At Oyingbo Police Station in Lagos alone, a total of three police officers were killed and roasted like Christmas goats with their facilities destroyed.”
The ICC acknowledged the receipt of the complaints through a reply by its Head of Information and Evidence Unit, Mark P. Dillon.
The reply reads: “Please, note this acknowledgement letter does not mean an investigation has been opened, nor that an investigation will be opened by the Office of the Prosecutor.
“As soon as a decision is reached, we will inform you in writing and provide you with reasons for this decision.”
