Authors : Aremu and Johnson Olaosebikan
Abstract: The Nigerian Government granted Charles Taylor, former Liberian President, political asylum in August 2003. Before then, Taylor�s continued presence in Liberia had been a major impediment to the peace process in his country bedevilled by a fourteen year civil war. Motivated largely by concern for Liberia�s humanitarian crisis and the hope that Taylor�s departure would speed up an end to the war; President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria offered Taylor a safe haven after wide consultation with African and world leaders. However, Taylor�s indictment and warrant of arrest issued on him by the U. N. -backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (S.C.S.L.), earlier in June 2003, hunted him even in exile. He was alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for which the world called for his extradition and trial. In this study, an attempt is made to examine some of the justifications for Nigeria�s grant of political asylum to Charles Taylor vis-à-vis the criticisms from different quarters, just as the controversy seems unending.
Aremu and Johnson Olaosebikan , 2007. Charles Taylor�s Political Asylum in Nigeria: Criticisms and Justifications . Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 4: 345-350.