ICC, Amnesty International, others sabotaging Nigeria’s anti-terrorism campaign – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Monday, accused the International Criminal Court (ICC), Amnesty International and other foreign organizations of constantly harassing Nigerian security forces and sabotaging the country’s anti-terrorism campaign.

The minister, who stated this at a media briefing in Lagos, said ICC and Amnesty International, with their reliance on fake news, are demoralising the Armed Forces and other security agencies in their fight against terrorists and other criminal elements in the country.

He stressed that foreign organizations are constituting themselves into another “fighting force.”

Mohammed urged the organizations to refrain from frustrating the efforts of Nigerian troops and putting national security at risk.

He said: “The Federal Government frowns at this unbridled attempt to demoralise our security men and women as they confront the onslaught from bandits and terrorists.”

The minister expressed disappointment that ICC and Amnesty International relied on fake news and disinformation to reach their conclusions.

Mohammed added: “Nigeria did not join the ICC so it can become a pawn on the court’s chessboard.

READ ALSO: Nigeria won’t become a failed state —Lai Mohammed

“It sounds unbelievable that a nation fighting an existential war against bandits and terrorists is constantly being held down by an international body which it willingly joined.

“Nigeria is a sovereign state and will not surrender its sovereignty to any organisation.

“ICC, Amnesty International, and their cohorts should desist from threatening our troops and putting the security of our country in jeopardy.”

The ICC had said late last year it planned to launch a probe into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the military in Nigeria.

The Hague-based court’s announcement came after almost a decade of preliminary investigations into the violence which has killed over 30,000 people and driven over two million from their homes in Nigeria’s North-East.

The ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, who disclosed this in a statement, said the vast majority of the crimes were by non-state actors.

She added that a probe into the actions of the Nigerian military was needed.

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