Reno Omokri advises senate against confiming ambassadorial nomination of ex service chiefs

Number one bestselling author and former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Pastor Reno Omokri, has urged the Nigerian senate not to confirm the ambassadorial nomination of ex service chiefs as presented by President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him, the ex service chiefs ought to be probed over the death of some innocent Nigerians who died while the service Chiefs were in-charge of their various units.

Recall that the president had, earlier on today, forwarded to the senate for confirmation, the names of the ex service chiefs, as ambassadorial nominees.

But pastor Omokri, in a statement on Thursday, said confirming the ex chiefs as ambassadors would mean giving them immunity and shielding them from probe.

According to him, “Today, the Presidency announced that General Buhari had sent the names of former chief of Army Staff, Lt General Turkur Buratai, and the other service chiefs to the Senate as an ambassadors designate. 

“The reason behind this desperate and unprecedented act is to give these service chiefs diplomatic immunity so they cannot be arrested by the International Criminal Court over the #LekkiMassacre of peaceful, unarmed #EndSARS protesters, and the December 12, 2015 murder of an estimated 1000 Shiite men, women, children and infants.

“The public may recall that I started a petition calling for the International Criminal Court to probe the various human rights abuses of the Buhari administration, and especially the Lekki Massacre. That petition went viral and that on October 22, 2020, the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, released a statement as follows:

‘My office has been closely following the events around the current protests in Nigeria and the reaction of Nigeria’s law enforcement and security agencies.

‘Any loss of life or injury is concerning. We have received information alleging crimes and are keeping a close eye on developments, in case violence escalates and any indications arise on that Rome Statute crimes may have been committed.’

“It will also be recalled that on November 4, the ICC revealed that it had progressed towards investigating the Lekki Massacre to “assess whether the legal criteria for opening an investigation under the Rome Statute are met.”

“I therefore call on the Senate of the National Assembly to perform its oversight function and save Nigeria from diplomatic embarrassment by refusing to confirm alleged crimes against humanity suspects as ambassadors designate.”