The Chief Of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa on Friday debunked claims that the military was involved in forceful abortions of babies fathered by Boko Haram insurgents in Northern Nigeria.
A Reuters report in February 2022 stated that the military ran a secret abortion programme in its fight against armed groups in the northeast, adding that the military abortion programme involved terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls.
However, General Musa, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, slammed the allegations, indicating that they were machinations of NGOs who don’t wish Nigeria well
”I wish you could call them now and ask that question. I was the theatre commander when they brought this accusation, and I felt very bad because I noticed most of these organisations don’t mean well for us,” the CDS said.
“Whenever we are making progress and succeeding, they throw this at us to look bad and demoralise our troops and the question is, what is the intent? Are they not happy we are succeeding?
“When that incident came in, I met the then Chief of Staff( Lucky Irabor). These guys have been doing this and we are quiet. Let us investigate because I am dead sure that nothing like this happened”
According to the CDS, the special panel instituted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) found no evidence of any wrongdoing by the military. adding that a public apology was necessary.
