Oba of Lagos panics as ICC come after him

Oba of Lagos panics as ICC come after him

The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu is panic-stricken. Couple of months after he threatened to drown Igbo-speaking people residing in Lagos, the International Criminal Court has commenced investigation of the incident.  

Akiolu openly threatened to drown Igbo-speaking Biafrans in the Lagos Lagoon if they vote against his preferred candidate  vowed that Igbos in Lagos who voted against his preferred candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, for the Lagos State governorship seat. The threat is believed in many quarters to have led to Ambode of the APC eventually defeating Jimi Agbaje of the PDP in a highly contested election. Many Biafrans in Lagos were intimidated from voting and many of those who did voted for Ambode because they feared for their lives and investments in Lagos.

The son of a late former governor of old Anambra State, Dr Josef Onoh, on April 21, petitioned the ICC on the statement and asked the world jury to investigate the threat and bring the monarch to justice.

Describing the Oba’s utterance as a grievous incitement against the Igbo in Lagos, Onoh said: “Let it be known that whether Oba Akilou’s threat comes to fruition or not, I have concluded to take him to the ICC where he will keep company with the likes of Charles Taylor and answer to human rights charges that will be preferred against him.”

Akiolu openly threatened to drown Igbo-speaking Biafrans in the Lagos Lagoon

He stated that Oba Akiolu, by his threat of sinking Ndigbo into the lagoon if they voted against APC in the April 11 governorship election for Lagos State, should be condemned.


He, therefore, urged his fellow Igbo brothers and sisters to exercise their fundamental right and vote for who they wanted, irrespective of the threat.

The ICC had earlier in the year acknowledged receipt of Mr. Onoh’s petition and promised to give consideration to his request.

In addition to Onoh's petition, the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety) also dragged Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos, Governor Babatunde Fashola and Inspector General of Police, IGP Suleiman Abba, before the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Dated 10th April 2015, the petition is entitled ‘A Call For Immediate Arrest & Prosecution Of Oba Rilwan Akiolu Of Lagos, The Governor Of Lagos State & The Inspector General Of Police Of Nigeria For Commission, Aiding & Abetting Of Crime of Incitement To Genocide Against The Igbo Ethnic Group In Lagos State Of Nigeria’.

Onoh petitioned the ICC saying he believes that Mr. Akiolu’s threat amounted to a call for violence to be perpetrated against the Igbo in Lagos in the event that the APC governorship candidate loses the election, which he noted violates Article 20 of the International convention and elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.

“Had the threat been made by any lesser person we would have dismissed same as an idle threat, but coming from the Oba of Lagos himself, it was a call to arms and an incitement to violence against the Igbos,” Mr. Onoh wrote.

Premium Times reports that in a second correspondence to Mr. Onoh with reference number OTP-CR-140/15, dated August 13 2015, ICC’s Head of the Information & Evidence unit in the office of the prosecutor, M.P. Dillion, said they were analyzing the situation identified in his petition with the assistance of other related communications and other available information.

Part of the ICC’s latest letter to Mr. Onoh reads: “Under article 53 of the Rome statute, the prosecutor must consider whether there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court have been committed, the gravity of the crimes, whether national systems are investigating and prosecuting the relevant crimes, and the interests of justice.”

Acknowledging receipt of the petition, Mr. Dillon said: “This communication has been duly entered in the communications register of the office.”