International Criminal Law and Nigeria: A Professional Assessment of Nigeria’s Obligations Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Nigeria ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2001, creating legal obligations to prevent genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, to cooperate with ICC investigations, and to domesticate the Statute's provisions into national law. The security situation in North East Nigeria and related ICC Preliminary Examination findings, covering alleged crimes by all parties to the Boko Haram conflict, have sharpened the professional relevance of Nigeria's ICC obligations. This study professionally assesses Nigeria's obligations under the Rome Statute, examining the state of domestication of the Statute's provisions, cooperation with ICC preliminary examinations, and compliance with complementarity requirements that impose domestic prosecution obligations. A doctrinal methodology is applied, reviewing the Rome Statute, Nigeria's ICC Domestication Bill (pending), relevant provisions of the Criminal Code and Penal Code on grave crimes, the ICC Prosecutor's preliminary examination reports on Nigeria, and comparative analysis of domestication from Uganda and South Africa. The study evaluates whether Nigeria's existing criminal law framework meets the complementarity standard that would preclude ICC jurisdiction over Nigerian atrocity cases. Available international criminal law literature from Nigeria identifies the absence of an ICC Domestication Act as the most significant compliance gap, exposing Nigerian officials to potential ICC jurisdiction for Borno State conflict-related crimes. The Complementarity Principle and the Rome Statute Framework provide the normative reference. Recommendations address priority enactment of the ICC Domestication Bill and strengthened accountability mechanisms for conflict-related crimes. Keywords: international criminal law, ICC, Rome Statute, complementarity, Nigeria.