Deborah Musa The National Human Rights Commission has absolved the Nigerian military of complicity in the reported termination of about 10,000 pregnancies in the North-East. Recall that Reuters had in a report published December 7, 2022, alleged that since 2013, the Nigerian military conducted a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the North-East, ending at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Islamist militants. In the report with “The Abortion Assault” headline and “Nigerian Military Ran Secret Mass Abortion Programme in War Against Boko Haram” as a rider, Reuters stated that the publication borders on an investigation-based interview with 33 women and girls who claimed the abortions were mostly carried out without their consent and prior knowledge while in the custody of the Nigerian Army.
The report further alleged that resisters were beaten, held at gunpoint or drugged into compliance. The victims women and girls, ranged from a few weeks to eight months pregnant, and some as young as 12 years old. Following the Reuters publication, the NHRC set up a panel, The Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency operations in North-East, chaired by a retired Supreme Court Justice, Justice Abdul Aboki.
The commission while addressing the media on Friday in Abuja, noted that based on investigations, the Nigerian military did not operate a secret programme or .