The Reuters report stated not less than 10,000 pregnancies had been forcefully terminated, principally with out consent, in northeast Nigeria.
Nigeria’s army has denied conducting a years-long illicit programme to hold out abortions amongst ladies and women who’ve been victims of armed teams within the northwest, a declare reported by Reuters on Wednesday.
“Since not less than 2013, the Nigerian army has performed a secret, systematic and unlawful abortion programme within the nation’s northeast, ending not less than 10,000 pregnancies amongst ladies and women,” the information company stated.
It stated lots of the ladies and women had been kidnapped and raped by armed fighters, including that those that resisted an abortion ran the danger of being “crushed, held at gunpoint or drugged into compliance.”
The report was based mostly on witness statements from 33 ladies and women, 5 well being staff, and 9 safety personnel concerned within the alleged programme, and on army paperwork and hospital information “describing or tallying 1000’s of abortion procedures”.
Many of the abortions, Reuters stated, had been carried out with out the lady’s consent and a few had been performed with out their prior data, via abortion-inducing capsules or injections handed off as medicines to spice up well being or fight illness. The company was unable to determine who created the abortion program or decide who within the army or authorities ran it.
United States Division of State spokesperson Ned Value stated on Wednesday that Washington was wanting into the report.
“It was a harrowing report. … It’s a regarding report and for that motive, we’re in search of additional info,” he stated.
Northeastern Nigeria is the epicentre of a battle spearheaded by armed teams, most notably Boko Haram in 2009.
Greater than 40,000 individuals have been killed and about two million individuals displaced within the long-running battle, which has spilled into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
In its response, the Nigerian military lashed the report as “a physique of insults on the Nigerian peoples and tradition. Nigerian army personnel have been raised, bred and additional skilled to guard lives,” it stated.
“[The] Nigerian army is not going to, due to this fact, ponder such evil of working a scientific and unlawful abortion programme anyplace and anytime, and absolutely not on our personal soil.”
Faith performs a core half in Nigerian life, with Islam because the dominant religion within the north of the nation, and Christianity within the south.
Abortion is prohibited within the nation besides when the mom’s life is at risk.
Within the north, unlawful being pregnant termination carries the danger of a 14-year jail time period.