The International Criminal Court, ICC, has accused the Nigerian terrorist group, Boko Haram, of crimes against humanity.

ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, identified the crimes committed the group as murder and persecution.

The court found that the group had, since July 2009, launched widespread and systematic attacks in different parts of Nigeria that have led to the untimely death of thousands of persons, irrespective of religion or tribe.

“The scale and intensity of the attacks have increased over time,”Bensouda said.

The ICC said it was now assessing whether the national authorities are conducting genuine proceedings in relation “to those who appear to bear the greatest responsibility for such crimes, and the gravity of such crimes.”

The prosecutor added that her office was still assessing three other phases of the situation in Nigeria, and that once completed, she would decide if these situations meets the legal criteria established by the Rome Statute.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR, have repeatedly warnedBoko Haram against attacks on civilians.

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Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has outlawed the fundamentalist sect and declared a state of emergency in the three most affected states in May to enable the government clampdown on the insurgents.

According to a UNHCR report released in June, related anti-insurgent operations and general insecurity have uprooted thousands of people in north-eastern Nigeria with more than 6,000 of them fleeing to neighbouring Niger for safety.

Located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, the ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.

The Majority Leader of the Rivers House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge brought against him.

Lloyd was arraigned before a Port Harcourt High Court on charges bordering on attempted murder, conspiracy, wounding, assault, and malicious damage.

The presiding Judge, Justice Latan Nyordee, said the plea of the accused could be taken on the ground that he had been properly arraigned before court adding that the earlier oral announcement of the attorney-general of the state, Nwogu Boms, taking over the case was premature.

Counsel to the accused, Beluolisa Nwofor said that he had applied for his bail through a motion on notice which the court graciously allowed him to argue

Speaking to newsmen, Nwofor said that he argued a motion for his client’s bail because all his offences were bailable and Lloyd had been in detention beyond the number of days allowed by law.

The judge, however, struck the counter affidavit against the bail of the accused and postponed hearing on the motion for bail till next court sitting.

Adjourning the case to August 14 for hearing, Nyordee ruled that the accused should be remanded in prison custody.

Nigeria is set to join the league of countries that have ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, as the minister of trade and investment,Olugbenga Ashiru, is expected to sign and ratify the treaty at the UN Headquarters in New York this month.

The adoption of the treaty is a realisation of efforts that started in 2006 following the adoption of the UN resolution 61/89.

Nigeria not only co-sponsored the treaty but coordinated the African group throughout the process of negotiation.

The resolution recommended the establishment of common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms.

Members of the UN adopted the treaty on April 2, 2013 and it was made open for signatures on June 3, 2013. So far, 81 member countries have ratified the treaty.

The treaty stipulates the prevention/eradication of illicit arms as well as their diversion and would ensure the prohibition of illicit transfer of conventional arms within the African region.

It would also ensure the reduction in human suffering and contribute to regional peace, security and stability.

The ratification is expected to take place next Monday.

A Port Harcourt High Court on Wednesday granted bail to ChidiLloyd, the detained Majority Leader of the Rivers House of Assembly.

Lloyd was arraigned before the court over a six-count charge of attempted murder, conspiracy, wounding, assault, and malicious damage.

Presiding Justice Latan Nyordee granted Lloyd bail in the sum of N10million and three sureties in like sum, and directed Lloyd to deposit his international passport with the court.

He said that Lloyd was granted bail because the offences with which he was charged are bailable and that he had been in detention beyond the days allowed by law.

The judge said another consideration in granting bail to Lloyd was his health as he was reported to be diabetic and hypertensive.

Justice Nyordee said that two of the sureties should have landed property valued at N10 million in Port Harcourt, while one should be a Grade Level 16 officer in the civil service.

Beluolisa Nwofor, counsel to Lloyd, had pleaded that his client’s international passport should not be deposited in court because of his health condition which might require travelling abroad.

The judge objected to the plea on grounds that the case had been ruled and adjourned to Nov. 21 for hearing.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after the adjournment, Nwofor said he was happy that the long fight to obtain bail for his client was successful.

“Although it is not a permanent bail, but a temporary one for him to stand trial, we are happy about that,” Nwofor said.

Nwofor said that he had filed an application to have the case against his client dismissed on grounds of abuse of court process.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested one Kingsley Mudi for having 30 ATM cards in his possession.

Mudi who was picked up last Friday at a Fidelity Bank ATM spot inWarri, Delta State following a tip-off, also had on him eight signedUBA cheques belonging to different persons.

He had allegedly withdrawn a total sum of N550, 000 with the ATM cards before he was arrested.

According to a statement signed by the EFCC’s head of media and publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the culprit who claimed to be a discjockey and barbing saloon operator, has volunteered useful information to investigators on his modus operandi.

The commission said he will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

Not less than 35 persons have been confirmed dead after an attempted take-over of security and military installations in the state by suspected Boko Haram sect.

Several others are said to be injured.

The Boko Haram insurgents invaded many local government of the state including Kukawa, Abadam, Biu, Kaga, Damboa, Mafa andMarte in spite of the heavy presence of security operatives after they were dislodged from their Sambisa camp base.

According to a statement by the spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno State, Sagir Musa, the ousted sect members attempted to take-over security and military outfits in the area but were repelled, leading to the death of 32 sect members, two soldiers as well as a policeman.

“Troops have successfully repelled Boko Haram terrorist attacks on mobile police (MOPOL) base and Bama town. Terrorists using sophisticated weapons and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) attacks at about 6:45am on 4 August 2013. The encounter led to the death of one policeman and seventeen Boko Haram terrorists. Two soldiers were also wounded.”

He added: “Similarly, at about10am on 4 August 2013, some BokoHaram terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons attacked the Multinational Joint Task Force, MJTF, location at Malam Fatori. The attack led to the death of two soldiers and 15 Boko Haramterrorists.”

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At the end of the confrontations, 4 Toyota Hilux vehicles, 10 AK47rifles, 2 G3 rifles, 10 X 40 mm bombs, 3 RPG tubes, 85 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, an Improvised Explosive Device, 3 motorcycles, 10 AK47 rifles magazines, a G3 magazine, among others were recovered.

Musa said normalcy has returned to both towns and urged the public to continue to assist the security agencies with timely and credible information.

The federal government last week deployed soldiers withdrawn from peace keeping operation in Mali to the troubled state in meeting the request of the state government for additional troops.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has discovered 93,526 multiple registration cases in Anambra ahead of the November 16 governorship election.

The chairman of the commission, Attahiru Jega, stated this on Monday in Abuja during an interactive session with civil society organizations and the media on voters’ registration optimization.

The INEC chairman said that before the 2011 general elections, the commission discovered 870,000 cases of multiple registrations nationwide.

He promised that the commission would ensure that it eliminates ghost voters in the 2015 polls starting with the offenders in Anambra State, especially as it partners with the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, to jointly commence prosecution of more people who contravene electoral laws.

“We have prosecuted over 200 people; we have asked our legal department in Anambra State to commence prosecution of some of these multiple registrants, because we want it to be an example before we commence the continuous voters’ registration, that the register has come down by five per cent from what was registered in 2011, is because we removed all multiple registrations in compiling the register.” Jega said.

He lamented that good governance will continue to elude the nation if the people’s votes were not made to count in the election of leaders.

Jega identified underage registration as a major problem affecting smooth registration in the country adding that community connivance, lack of vigilance by security operatives and INEC staff also contributed to underage registration.

INEC boss expressed concern that in many communities where multiple registrations occurred, INEC officials were helpless after threats by residents.

He said, henceforth, all voters’ cards would be issued and collected at the local governments with age identification by the electorate to minimize electoral fraud.

“As we count down to the 2015 elections the commission is increasingly fine-tuning work process to ensure delivery of elections that are much more free, fair and credible than that of 2011,” Jegasaid.

He, however, solicited supports from stakeholders and all Nigerians to ensure the success of 2015 general elections.

The INEC chairman also stated that the newly registered party, All Progressives Congress, APC, is free to field candidates in the forthcoming election in Anambra.

He noted that the provision in Section 84 (c) of the Electoral Act qualifies the new party to field candidates for the November 16 governorship election in the state.

Governor Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State on Monday said that the inaugural meeting of governors of the newly registered All Progressive Congress, APC, will be held in Lafia, the state capital before the end of August.

The governor dropped the hint during a stakeholders meeting of theAPC in the government house, Lafia.

The meeting, which was attended by former state executives of the three parties that merged into APC, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, agreed to set up a committee to commence the process of winding down of the parties in the state.

Governor Al-Makura explained that the APC was born out of patriotism and that it would promote the ideal of internal democracy. He said the party will work to achieve the aspirations of the people and ensure fairness without religious or tribal biases in order to move the country forward.

He said the success of the merger is a sign of true patriotism on the part of those who struggled for the realization of the APC.

“We are doing it out of patriotism and to redirect the affairs of the country for the better thorough visionary development,” he said.

Al-Makura said the APC will genuinely serve Nigeria and better the lot of the ordinary citizens.

“Our power evolved from the grassroot because of the respect and recognition we have for our teaming members in trying to depart from the mentality of the past as the case may be in otherpoliticalparties’.

“Before”, the Nasarawa State governor observed, “I was operating as an orphan as the only CPC governor”, adding that “now

I can raise my head above the roof with about ten colleagues to champion our collective course”.

The meeting came to an end with the various chairmen of the three merging political party giving their vote of thanks and advice on how the new party could be united.

Former governorof the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, ChukwumaSoludo, and former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT,Nasir el-Rufai, have resigned their membership of the THISDAYeditorial board, the newspaper has reported.

Soludo resigned to pursue his governorship ambition in AnambraState on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

On the other hand, El-Rufai’s resignation from the Board is to enable him devote his attention to his new position as the deputy national secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

During his membership of the THISDAY Editorial Board, Soludo ran a bi-monthly column titled: ‘The Soludo Solution’, which focused on evidence-based policy analysis of African and Nigerian economic developments.

The column, which began running in August 2012, specialised in macroeconomics, monetary policy, public finance and fiscal policy, financial systems, institutional economics and political economy.

El-Rufai also ran a popular, sometimes controversial column in the newspaper and it is speculated that he nurses a presidential ambition.