The International Criminal Court, Transitional Justice, and Post-Conflict Governance in the Lake Chad Basin

This study examines the intersection of International Criminal Court preliminary examination processes, transitional justice mechanisms, and post-conflict governance reconstruction in the Lake Chad Basin, focusing on Nigeria's north-east geopolitical zone as the primary site of investigation. The Lake Chad Basin conflict, primarily driven by Boko Haram insurgency and counter-insurgency operations by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, has generated extensive evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and potential genocide, placing it on the International Criminal Court's preliminary examination list since 2010. Using a critical international relations theory framework integrated with transitional justice studies and post-conflict governance literature, the study investigates the tension between international accountability norms and the Nigerian government's preference for domestic deradicalisation and amnesty approaches. Primary data is collected through fieldwork in Maiduguri, interviews with International Criminal Court legal practitioners, Nigerian government officials, military lawyers, and representatives of conflict victims' associations, and document analysis of International Criminal Court preliminary examination reports. The liberal international order theory and the norm localisation framework are applied to analyse how global accountability norms interact with local political constraints. Findings reveal that the prolonged preliminary examination without progression to investigation has produced a de facto impunity assurance for perpetrators on all sides of the conflict, undermining transitional justice and reconciliation processes. The study contributes original analysis of the political economy of International Criminal Court engagement with powerful states capable of resisting formal investigations. Recommendations include a hybrid domestic-international accountability tribunal and community-based reparations mechanisms. Keywords: International Criminal Court, transitional justice, Lake Chad Basin, post-conflict governance, accountability