A Federal Government delegation was in Geneva, Switzerland, at the weekend to apologise to the United Nations for the alleged extra-judicial killings of Boko Haram sect leaders last month, head of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ronald Ewubare said in Abuja yesterday.
The delegation comprised Attorney-General of the Federation Michael Aondoakaa, the NHRC boss and the state house counsel.
In Lagos yesterday, Aondoakaa , who confirmed the Geneva trip, said the Federal Government would punish members of security forces found to have perpetrated the alleged extra-judicial killings.
Hundreds of Boko Haram followers were allegedly summarily executed in Maiduguri, Borno State, where violence that started with attacks on police and other establishment formations left more than 700 dead. Though the police claimed to have killed the Boko Haram leaders in combat, video evidence later showed that the sect leader Mohammed Yusuf and alleged financier Buji Foi were shot dead in captivity.
Aondoakaa said at the opening of the 2009 Nigeria Bar Association Annual Conference in Lagos that the Federal Government had contacted the UN commissioner in Switzerland towards conducting full investigation into the Boko Haram killings.
Speaking when he received visiting Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria Jeff Hart, the NHRC executive secretary Ewubare said the Nigerian delegation told the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay that they were in Geneva to plead so that the country would not be sanctioned by the UN. He said Nigeria assured the UN that as soon as ongoing investigation is concluded those found culpable would be punished in accordance with the law.
“President Umaru Yar’adua’s state house counsel (and others) were at Geneva on Friday to apologise to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay and to indicate to her in very strong terms that what happened in the north-eastern parts of Nigeria is taken very seriously and that severe efforts will be made to bring those responsible for those horrendous crime to book,” he said.
He said that consequences of the Boko Haram crisis provided an avenue for the commission to be proactive. “We all know that the Boko Haram leader was despicable and was responsible for the deaths of several people but executing him alongside Buji Foi was a wrong step to take,” Ewubare said.
Speaking on efforts of the Federal Government towards the dispensation of justice, Aondoakaa said various bills have been sent to the National Assembly to be enacted into law. The bills, he said, include Prison Service Bill, Violators of Human Rights Bill, Police Act Bill and Legal Aid Council Bill.
The minister called on the bar and the bench to unite for the law profession to thrive.
Aondoakaa also said the Federal Government has a firm conviction that unconstitutional means will not be use to solve differences with Lagos State on the controversial 37 Local Council Development Areas.
Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Idris Kutigi, who was represented by the justice minister, condemned delay of dispensation of justice at the courts and urged lawyers and judges to work together.