False accusations won’t distract military from defending Nigeria’s integrity — CDS

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, has stated that no amount of false accusations will distract the military from fulfilling its constitutional mandate to protect the nation’s territorial integrity.

His comment follows the outcome of an investigative panel set up by the National Human Rights Commission to review human rights allegations against the military in the North East.

The panel was established to investigate a report published by Reuters, which accused the military of conducting a secret, systematic, and illegal abortion programme in the North East, terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies of women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Islamist militants.

After concluding its investigation, the panel stated that it found no evidence to support the claim that the Nigerian military operated a secret programme or had a policy of illegal abortions based on witness testimonies.

However, Musa, in a statement on Saturday by the Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen Tukur Gusau, praised the panel for the outcome of their investigation.

Musa assured that the military under his leadership would defend human rights and restore peace in troubled parts of the country.

He said, “The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, has hailed the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency in the North East for exonerating the Armed Forces of Nigeria from indictments by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Reuters regarding allegations of forced abortions and other infractions in the North East.”

“It could be recalled that the report of the panel specifically stated that the allegations of systematic abortions, torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings levelled against the AFN were false.”

“The CDS therefore commends the seven-man panel led by Justice Abdu Aboki (retd) for diligently carrying out a thorough job since its inauguration in March 2023 by the Nigerian Human Rights Commission.
Gen. Musa wishes to use this opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to the defence of human rights and its resolve to ensure peace prevails in the country.”

“According to the Defence Chief, no amount of false accusations will distract the AFN from exercising its constitutional mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation.”