Inciting Speech: ICC Finally Begins Investigation of Oba of Lagos

About four months after this year's elections, strong indications emerged on Sunday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may have commenced investigation of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, for an alleged inciting speech and threat to cause the Igbo residing in Lagos State to sink into the lagoon if they failed to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the April 11 governorship election in the state This Day Newspaper reports 

Son of the late former Governor of old Anambra state, Dr. Josef Umunnakwe Onoh, had petitioned the ICC over the alleged Oba’s threat and asked the world jury to investigate the threat and bring the monarch to justice for conceiving to annihilate the Igbo race over election matters.

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

In a second correspondence to 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 analysing 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 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.”