An investigation by Reuters, an
international news agency, has accused the Nigerian Army of carrying out
illegal abortions on victims of insurgency in the north-east.
According to the Reuters investigation, since 2013, the
Nigerian military has conducted a secret, systematic and illegal abortion
programme in the country’s north-east region.
In the report, at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and
girls were ended.
“The existence of the army-run abortion programme hasn’t been previously reported. The campaign relied on deception and physical force against women who were kept in military custody for days or weeks,” the investigation reads in part.
Soldiers interviewed during the investigation were said to
have revealed that women who resisted the forced abortion were either beaten or
drugged into compliance.
“Three soldiers and a guard said they commonly assured
women, who often were debilitated from captivity in the bush, that the pills
and injections given to them were to restore their health and fight diseases
such as malaria,” the report reads.
“In some instances, women who resisted were beaten, caned,
held at gunpoint or drugged into compliance.
“Others were tied or
pinned down, as abortion drugs were inserted inside them, said a guard and a
health worker.”
Although Reuters said it could not establish who created the
abortion programme or who in the military or government ran it, forced
abortions reportedly occurred in at least five military facilities and five Recall
that the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said the Nigerian Army has never forced
rescued women and girls to abort pregnancies.
The DHQ’s denial was contained in a statement issued on
Friday by Jimmy Akpor, information director at DHQ.
“To them (Reuters), they were committed to producing an
accurate, fair and complete report hence, their request to arrange a time to
discuss before their reporting,” the DHQ said.
“The supposed stories were purported to focus on 2 specific
areas: First, the supposed military-run programme of forced abortions performed
on women and girls who were held captive and impregnated by Islamist militants
and second, a supposed killing of children by the military as part of
counterinsurgency operations.”
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