False accusations won’t distract troops – CDS

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, has said 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 set up to investigate the 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 investigations, the panel said 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 testimonies from witnesses.

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

Musa assured that the military under him 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 on forceful 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 extra-judicial killings levelled against the AFN were false.

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