Army Refutes Allegations of Terminating Pregnancies of Boko Haram Female Victims

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, on Friday, vehemently rejected allegations that the Nigerian military was involved in forcibly aborting pregnancies among women impregnated by Boko Haram insurgents in the northern region.

These accusations stemmed from a Reuters report in February 2022, which claimed that the military orchestrated a covert abortion program as part of its counter-insurgency efforts in the northeast, terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls.

On Channels Television’s Politics Today, General Musa dismissed the allegations, calling them “baseless” and part of a smear campaign orchestrated by certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with hidden agendas.

“I wish you could call them now and ask that question. I was the theatre commander when this accusation surfaced, and it was deeply upsetting. I realized most of these organizations do not mean well for us,” he stated.

He argued that such allegations often arise when the military achieves significant progress, aiming to tarnish its image and demoralize its troops.

“Whenever we are succeeding, they throw this at us to make us look bad. The question is, what is their intent? Are they unhappy with our success?” he asked.

General Musa recalled discussing the matter with the then Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and emphasized the necessity for a thorough investigation to clear the air.

“When this came up, I told General Irabor we should investigate it thoroughly because I was confident nothing like this happened,” he asserted.

In response, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) established an independent panel to investigate the claims. General Musa revealed that after an exhaustive probe that lasted over a year, the panel found no evidence to support the allegations.

He added that the military granted the panel unrestricted access during the investigation.

“The NHRC committee investigated this for one and a half years, and I was the first to testify in January 2023. They had complete access to go wherever they wanted, and their report found no evidence of these claims,” he explained.
General Musa called for a public apology from those behind the allegations, asserting that the military had already approached the Attorney General to pursue legal action against the accusers.

He further questioned the silence of international organizations and local NGOs, including the United Nations, over the course of a decade, asking, “If we had been doing this for 10 years, as claimed, why didn’t these organizations report it? Are they also complicit?”

In a final note, General Musa suggested that some NGOs involved in safe abortion programs for over 10,000 Nigerians might have been the origin of the report cited by Reuters.

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