‘We Would’ve Killed The Women Before They Gave Birth’- NDA Commandant Debunks Reuters Report Of Mass Abortion

The Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division Maiduguri, Major General Ibrahim Manu Yusuf, has aligned with the position of the Chief of Defense, General Lucky Irabor, in debunking the Reuters report which accused operatives of aborting about 10,000 babies of Boko Haram victims since 2003.

Yusuf told the Justice Abdu Aboki led Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East (SIIP-NE) that the report is false in its entirety, adding that rescued victims are well taken care of.

“We have on our own provided rams and bought clothes for the celebration of naming ceremonies of children of Boko Haram born in our custody, and some of these children were named after us as a way of expressing excitement over our goodwill. If we want to exterminate them, we would have done so by killing the pregnant women even before they gave birth, we won’t have to go through the headache of conducting the said abortions,” he said.

He said the allegations are weighty and could have been noted by its partners like the United Nations, if they were true.

He added that the communities the military are protecting in the region could have protested if such were the case.

“We have had to answer questions simply because we closed down markets following intelligence information we got on planned attacks by insurgents, if this can happen do you think such alleged crimes reported by Reuters will go unnoticed without any questioning before now?” he asked.

The panel which is sitting in Borno was step up by the National Human Rights Commission following the Reuters 3-part investigations.

The NHRC’s statement on the probe, partly reads, “On his part, the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary Borno State Ministry of Justice Barr. Garba Musa Chibok, who earlier appeared before the 7-man panel, said it is very unreasonable for anyone to fabricate stories that are baseless. He challenged Justice Abdu Aboki (rtd) led panel to invite Reuters for questioning, saying Borno State as at 2013 (the period referred to in the Reuters report) was in turmoil, people were busy running for their lives and seeking hiding places from the insurgents while the military was bothered about neutralizing the terrorists. “Tell me, in this situation who has time to think of anything like abortion?”

“On the issue of the massacre of children, the Solicitor General also debunked the allegation saying “I am from Chibok and I am seriously affected by this problem, all the children rescued from the frontline are alive, I know them some of them are my relations, you can call them to come here and talk to you. None of them was killed; some of the girls released at that time came with one baby or more. Where did Reuters see those ones that they claim have been killed? Please invite them, let them come here and tell us.”