‘Outright Nonsense’ -Defence HQ Reacts To Allegation Of Abortion Programme

Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor has reluctantly addressed the allegation of an abortion programme levied against them by an international media organisation where the pregnancy of female rescued victims is forcefully terminated without consent.

Reuters, in a recent publication on Wednesday, alleged that the Nigerian Government under a Military Scheme targeted to fight insurgency and its resurrection in the North East, conducted a ‘secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme’.

The programme reported to have been ongoing since 2013, had terminated at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls.

The report said the information was gathered after speaking to 33 affected victims, personnel and guards of the military.

Reuters had reported, “Central to the abortion programme is a notion widely held within the military and among some civilians in the northeast: that the children of insurgents are predestined, by the blood in their veins, to one day take up arms against the Nigerian government and society.

“Four soldiers and one guard said they were told by superiors that the programme was needed to destroy insurgent fighters before they could be born.”

But Irabor while fielding questions from journalists at a State House briefing on Thursday berated the report, and described it as “outright nonsense”.

To him, addressing the allegation was a “waste of energy”, stressing that the Military would not engage in such killings for any reason.

While stating the discrepancy in the report, Irabor revealed that the letter earlier sent to them for their response had distinct information from the published report.

He said, “In the letter, they mentioned that about 12,000 abortions have been conducted but, in their report, they have now published yesterday, they said that it is 10,000 and they went on and on to say their sources.

“Also, the report said we interviewed 33 women within 2013 to date, and then you were able to conclude- what kind of extrapolation is that? and you were able to get 10,000 abortions that have been conducted.

“The report claimed there are some security personnel that were interviewed and we don’t know who they are.

“In the report, my name was mentioned that I was in charge of the operations, yes I was. In 2013, I was not in charge, I took leadership of the operations of the North-East in 2016, and I did till the latter part of 2017, close to two years and there were other officers.

“Let me confined myself to time of my leadership of the North East, the allusions they made are news to me. It never occurred; I never saw anything like that.

“So, since that is the position of Reuters, I didn’t think it was relevant to call them up and engage them, that is outright nonsense.”

The report claimed that the abortion programme has taken place in the north-eastern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa, where the Nigerian military has been fighting Islamist insurgents.

Interestingly, these affected states and others in the north culturally, and widely frown on abortions although it is illegal. Perpetrators of abortion in the north can be charged with a felony and given up to 14 years in prison.

Forced abortions may also violate the Nigerian military’s code of conduct.

The most recent version publicly available, issued in 1967, states that “under no circumstances should pregnant women be ill-treated or killed.”