The Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) who was also the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division in Maiduguri, Borno State, Major General Ibrahim Yusuf has debunked the Reuters report on allegations of human rights violations by the Military in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East
Major General Yusuf who appeared before Justice Abdu Aboki led Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East (SIIP-NE), being held in Maiduguri, described the report as false, malicious and ill-intended against the Nigerian Armed Forces.
He said that the Nigerian Military deserves commendation and not condemnation or distraction.
According to the former GOC, the military operates in a community where it interacts with different categories of stakeholders including personnel of United Nation Agencies who could have noticed and reported any human rights violations from the onset.
The Commandant of the NDA explained that, the people in the communities would also not keep quiet and watch such atrocities happen without hinting the appropriate authorities.
While expressing disappointment in the Reuters report, the army officer said it is unimaginable for anyone to think that the military can kill rescued children for any reason.
“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 go through the headache of conducting the said abortions”.
Also, the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary Borno State Ministry of Justice Garba Chibok, who earlier appeared before panel, informed them that, it is very unreasonable for anyone to fabricate stories that are baseless.
He challenged the 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.
Reuters Report
It would be recalled that Reuters had reported on December 7 that the Nigerian army has run a secret program of coerced abortions in the country’s Northeast, where it has been battling insurgents since 2009.
On December 12, again citing dozens of witnesses, Reuters reported that the army intentionally killed children in the war, under a presumption they were, or would become, terrorists.
Nigerian military leaders said the abortion program did not exist and that children were never targeted for killing.
PIAK
