#LekkiMassacre: International Criminal Court Begins Investigation

A week after Nigerian soldiers opened fire at unarmed protesters at Lekki tollgate, Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, charged Nigerian soldiers to remain undeterred by threats of war crime charges at the International Criminal Court.

Nigerian soldiers have every right under the Constitution to carry out assigned and legitimate roles of maintaining law and order in aid of civil authorities and other security agencies.

The Netherlands-based intergovernmental organization, International Criminal Court (ICC), has begun preliminary findings to ascertain the role of the Nigerian Army in the October #LekkiMassacre.

According to video footage and a handful of witnesses, members of the Nigerian Army opened live rounds on unarmed peaceful protesters, stopped the ambulance from gaining entry into the location, and carried along bodies of dead protesters to quell the recently held #EndSARS protests against police brutality. However, the force is yet to admit to these claims.

An ICC prosecutor confirmed to the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, today that the international crimes tribunal has received a petition that carried claims of the massacre. Investigators at the ICC are trying to assess whether the legal criteria for opening an investigation under the Rome Statute are met. Details of the investigations would also be made public.