Abuja, Nigeria ? Nigeria said Saturday it is ready to hand over Liberian warlord Charles Taylor to be the first former African head of state tried for crimes against humanity, making a reluctant move that will be a strong warning for other warmongers on the continent.

Taylor is accused of starting a civil war in his homeland that brutalized tens of thousands of young boys and girls drafted as rebel fighters. He also is blamed for a savage war in neighboring Sierra Leone where rebels – including child fighters – terrorized victims by chopping off arms, legs, ears and lips.

An international tribunal indictment says Taylor is criminally responsible for the destruction of Liberia and Sierra Leone and for the murder, rape, maiming and mutilation of more than a half million Sierra Leoneans.

An additional 2.5 million people were forced from their homes.

Each of the 17 charges he faces in the indictment carries a sentence of life in prison.

Taylor is also accused of harboring al-Qaida suicide bombers who attacked U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

The former Liberian leader has been in exile in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar since being forced from power under a 2003 accord that ended a rebel assault on Liberia’s capital. Nigeria had resisted extraditing him, arguing that he was given refuge under the internationally brokered peace deal.

Many African leaders are leery of trying former presidents or dictators, apparently worrying they could be the next to be accused of human rights abuses or other crimes. Others fear a push to try toppled leaders would encourage those in power to more fiercely resist democratic change.

But in a statement, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he had informed Liberia’s president that “the government of Liberia is free to take former President Charles Taylor into its custody.”

After her inauguration in January, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said a trial for Taylor was not a priority. But she made a formal request to Nigeria after an official visit to Washington, which is the source of aid needed to rebuild Liberia, Africa’s first republic founded by freed American slaves in 1847.

There was speculation Taylor would be sent directly to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone rather than be taken to Liberia, where there are worries his presence could destabilize the country trying to recover from 14 years of war.

Liberia’s government had no immediate comment, and neither Taylor nor his spokesman could be reached for comment.