Alleged abortions: CDS asks commission to probe armed forces

The military high command yesterday called on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to independently investigate a series of allegations levelled against the armed forces by an international news agency. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Lucky Irabor, who made the demand when he met the Executive Secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, at the […]

The military high command yesterday called on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to independently investigate a series of allegations levelled against the armed forces by an international news agency.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Lucky Irabor, who made the demand when he met the Executive Secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, maintained that the demand was important because the military had nothing to hide.

It would be recalled that Reuters, an international news agency, in a recent report alleged that the Nigerian military forcefully terminated the pregnancies of arrested and detained Boko Haram women.

The agency also claimed that military authorities also extra-judicially killed children of terrorists for fear of them taking after their parents.

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But Irabor maintained that all the allegations were not true, saying it was necessary to specifically investigate the allegations of abortion and infanticide carried out on some women and children in the North East.

He insisted that the Reuters’ story was “evil” and aimed at casting aspersion on troops’ efforts to contain insurgency and insecurity in the country, particularly in the North East.

In his reaction, Ojukwu said the investigation by the commission would meet set standards, noting that it would be open and transparent.