Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo in relation to Nigeria

The Office of the Prosecutor is closely following on the situation in Nigeria and is concerned with the outbreak of violence surrounding the National Assembly and Presidential elections of April 2011. The Office is mindful that the upcoming governorship elections on 26 April 2011 could lead to further violence.

In the context of its on-going preliminary examination activities, the Office will seek to establish whether the recent violence may have been planned and organized and whether crimes falling within the Court's jurisdiction may have been committed.

The Office of the Prosecutor therefore, urges Nigerians to avoid engaging in acts of violence and further urges the Nigerian government to ensure, on its part, that it contains the on-going violence and forestalls its future re-occurrence, while taking into account its obligation to prevent impunity under the Rome Statute.

The Office of the Prosecutor welcomes Nigeria's political leaders' call on their supporters to show restraint and avoid unrest. In accordance with the complementarity principle, the Office will, in the first place, support national investigations into the violence and its perpetrators.