NHRC clears military of alleged 10,000 illegal abortions in North-East

The National Human Rights Commission has stated that, based on its investigation and the evidence before it, the Nigerian military did not orchestrate or carry out the termination of approximately 10,000 pregnancies in the North-East, as alleged in a Reuters report.

Recall that Reuters, in a report published on December 7, 2022, titled “The Abortion Assault” with the subheading “Nigerian Military Ran Secret Mass Abortion Programme in War Against Boko Haram,” alleged that since 2013, the Nigerian military had been 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.

Reuters claimed that the report was based on interviews with 33 women and girls who said the abortions were mostly carried out without their consent or prior knowledge while in the custody of the Nigerian Army. The report further alleged that those who resisted were beaten, held at gunpoint, or drugged into compliance. The victims, ranging from a few weeks to eight months pregnant, included some as young as 12 years old.

In response to the Reuters publication, the NHRC established The Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in the North-East, chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Abdul Aboki.

Addressing the media in Abuja on Friday, the commission noted that, after concluding its investigations, 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.

The NHRC also highlighted that, during its investigation, it found that abortions are illegal in Nigerian hospitals, except in the case of medical procedures known as Manual Vacuum Aspiration, which are used to complete ongoing miscarriages.

According to the commission, data collected from hospitals across three different states in the North-East between 2013 and 2023 showed 5,945 cases of Manual Vacuum Aspirations.

Hillary Ogbonna, senior adviser to the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, stated, “There is no evidence that the Nigerian military conducted a secret, systematic, and illegal abortion programme in the North-East.

There is no evidence of illegal abortion programmes terminating 10,000 pregnancies by the Nigerian military in the North-East.”

The commission did, however, note that during its investigation, whistleblowers testified that the non-governmental organisation Médecins Sans Frontières may have been involved in an abortion programme in the North-East. Ogbonna said that MSF had declined the commission’s invitation to appear before the panel, informing them in writing that it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations in the Reuters report.

Ogbonna added, “There is evidence that MSF may have operated a programme of illegal abortion in the North-East. This finding is based on testimony from a protected witness and whistleblower, who claimed that abortions were conducted by MSF from 2014 to 2015.”

The commission clarified that other NGOs did not operate abortion programmes in the North-East.

Regarding the report’s allegations that the Nigerian military targeted children because they were children of Boko Haram members, the NHRC found no evidence to support this claim. It also dismissed the allegations that the military had declared war on women or deliberately targeted women in military or IDP camps.

Ogbonna stated that, rather, the panel found evidence from military and civilian sources, including women and girls still in military custody and those who had left IDP camps, that the military had taken care of them.

The commission also concluded that the allegations of the military smothering, poisoning, or shooting women and children were unsubstantiated. However, it found the military culpable for infanticide and the killing of community members in Abisare village, New Mountain Local Government Area, Borno State, on June 16, 2016.

The panel received testimonies from survivors and relatives of the deceased and made recommendations to the government for compensation to the victims and their families.

Ogbonna further disclosed that 19 NGOs testified during the investigation, coming from a total of 15 different organisations. However, several invited NGOs and non-state actors, including Reuters, declined to testify.

“Up until we finished this report, we did not receive any cooperation from Reuters,” Ogbonna stated.