The President, African Bar Association (AfBA), Hannibal Uwaifo, says the association will mount opposition to the ongoing probe of the activities of the Nigerian military by the International Criminal Court (ICC).



Uwaifo made this known at the opening of the 2022 Maiden Armed Forces and Other Security Agencies Law Conference on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that that the AFBA at its 2021 annual conference in Niamey, Republic of Niger, voiced out its opposition to the ongoing probe of the Nigerian military by ICC.
According to him, AFBA will not support it and has put every machinery in place to make that clear to the ICC and steer it off that direction.

“We believe the ICC should be chasing the financiers, supporters and promoters of these internationally recognized crimes that claims and continuo claim our Security forces and innocent civilians including women, children and the aged every day.
“Countries will not to leave their defence in the hands of civilian government officials as they are not permanent and may not have the capacity to navigate the internal workings of the ICC.

“The AFBA has set up a high powered Commission of Legal experts who are Counsels on the record in the ICC, headed by a former president of the ICC Bar Association and Life member of the Council of AFBA, Chief Charles Taku.
“The AFBA will discuss this line of support with the Defence Headquarters of Nigeria and the leadership of other armed forces in Africa who needs support,” he said.

AFBA president said the conference with the theme “Enhancing the operational capacities of African Armed Forces and other Security agencies: Law as a vital instrument” was organised in collaboration with Defence Headquarters.
He said the idea of the conference stemmed from the many complex security challenges facing the African Continent.

According to him, terrorism, banditry, kidnappings and very many violent attacks are a daily occurrence in most countries within the continent.

Uwaifo said the military and other security agencies applied law in their dealings and trainings.

He said it was vital to employ law reform for capacity building of personnel to meet global standards of engagement particularly in asymmetric operation which the armed forces were currently engaged in.

According to him, the role of the military lawyer in the armed forces and other security agencies are very fundamental.

“Operational commanders are expected to seek legal advice and refuse them at their own peril.

“They are expected to know the latest in the legal field and be prepared to defend decisions made with their inputs,” he said.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, said the conference will help to generate new approach to counter the security challenges through legal compliance.

Irabor, who was represented by the Chief of Defence Administration, Rear Adm. Muhammed Nagenu, said the conference was an ample evidence of the developing synergy between African militaries and civil society actors.

He said the conference would also generate panacea to security challenges in the continent ranging from insurgency, insurrection, banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and separate agitation among others.

According to him, one of the areas of importance in this regard is compliance with legal regime instruments in our military and security operations.

“Such compliance could acts as a feeling of force multiplier for the attainment of suitable and enduring success in our battle against earlier outlined security challenges,” he said.

The Chairman, Armed Forces and Security Agencies Committee of AFBA, Maj.-Gen. Yusuf Shalangwa, said the armed forces if Nigeria had continue to enhance capacity of its lawyers.

Shalangwa said the Defence and services headquarter had sponsored the lawyers on several local and international conferences and trainings.

He thanked the service chiefs for their commitment to capacity building of military lawyers towards enhancing the operational engagements of the military.

According to him, the citizens need a military they can run to and not the military they should run from.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference has in attendance the representatives of the service chiefs members of the AFBA, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and military and security agencies’ lawyers from eight African countries.

The two-day conference is expected to feature paper presentations and discussions by law scholars, professionals and top military officers.