The Nigerian Army has challenged Reuters, an International media outfit to come up with proofs about its allegations that the Military terminated 10,000 pregnancies of women, during its counter insurgency operations in North East of the Country.
The Army has also requested Reuters to provide evidence on alleged massacre of children and other Sexual and Gender Based Violence it alleged during the operations.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya made the request while appearing before the seven-man Special Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East, set up by the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja on Saturday.
The Army boss said the Nigerian Army is concerned about fighting the insurgency and restoring peace in the North East and as such cannot abandon its duty to engage in abortion of pregnancies.
He identified Reuter’s action as deliberate and acting a script to rubbish his men and successes recorded by the Army in the North East.
Yahaya said “some people are gifted in writing just like in novels, describing what they never witnessed forgetting that in the military if you waste any ammunition you will be court martialed. We are not a mercenary Army; we are a professional Army”.
He noted that, “the Army is succeeding and many are happy that we are succeeding, they cannot reverse our successes therefore they rubbish it.”
He added that, the Army is not Boko Haram terrorists, as they are trained to be professionals to protect lives.
“The National Human Rights Commission follows what is being done in the military and what we are doing is internal operation; we are operating in our country. The Army is Nigerian Army and we are not like Boko Haram that does not operate under code of conduct,” he added.
When asked to explain Reuters’ claim that soldiers massacred many children perceived to have been fathered by Boko Haram, the Army Chief said, “this is laughable because even if there is stigma attached to such children, is it the Army that will stop the stigma”
The investigative panel, led by retired Supreme Court Justice, Abdu Aboki will continue hearing from witnesses.
