Nigeria has been advised to exit the International Criminal Court (ICC) if it intends to successfully fight the war against terrorism.

This was contained in a communiqué at the end of the 2nd International Conference on Terrorism and Small Arms Conflict in Nigeria organised by the Global Amnesty Watch (GAW) in partnership with the Institute for African Studies of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

In the communiqué signed by the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Mutiullah Olasupo, participants, including human rights lawyers and experts on peace and conflicts, agreed that a special task team should be set up to review and respond to any report emanating from Amnesty International, UNICEF or their associates.

“We demand that the Federal Government immediately activates the necessary steps for Nigeria to exit the Rome Statute and its creation, the International Criminal Court, to ensure that the military can fight terrorism without the cloak of blackmail constantly hanging over it. The ICC is constantly used to harass and intimidate military commanders and troops to discourage them from being committed to defeating Boko Haram.”

Participants evaluated Nigeria’s war on terrorism in the three years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, saying a lot of progress has been made.

The participants noted that South Africa, Burundi, Kenya and the Gambia had taken different steps towards exiting the ICC because of its selective justice and usage as a tool for modern day colonialism.

Discussants include GAW’s Global President, David Falt, Global President; Professor Pita Ogaba Agbese of the University of Northern IOWA, (USA); Senior Expert/Practitioner in Humanitarian Law, London, Stuart McGhie and Dr Malfouz Adedimeji, a former Director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ilorin Kwara State.