The Nigerian government says the report that the country’s military is running a systematic and secret abortion program in the North East is not true
The country’s information and culture Minister Lai Mohammed stated this on Monday in Abuja during President Mohammed Buhari’s scorecard series which was hosted by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.
This is in reaction to a story by an international publication about a systematic ad illegal abortion program by the Nigerian Military which the Minister said the story was nothing but mischief, fake news and disinformation put together.
According to him, the nation’s military is well respected and highly professional in its dealings and never runs any illegal or secret abortion camp anywhere adding that the fake news has the potential of negatively impacting on the country’s ongoing fight against terrorism.
“Fake news and disinformation, if not checked, can also have a negative impact on our nation’s ongoing fight against terrorism.
“As you are all aware, an international news agency recently reported that the Nigerian military, in their fight against Boko Haram/ISWAP, has been running a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the Northeast, ostentibly – according to the news agency – because ‘the children of insurgents are predestined, by the blood in their veins, to one day take up arms against the Nigerian government and society.
“The story also claimed that 10,000 such abortions have been carried out from 2013 to date on women and girls.
“The news agency made this grave allegation without a scintilla of evidence, citing only anonymous sources and the reported review of phantom ‘documents.”
The Minister said the news agency claimed that their investigation was based on interviews with 33 women and girls.
“Interview with 33 women and girls to arrive at the bogus claim of 10,000 abortions? And in a further indication that the figure of abortions quoted was arbitrary or possibly conjured, the agency first put the figure at 12,000 before settling for 10,000.”
Based on submission, the Nigerian Government categorically stated that there was no ‘secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme’ being run by the military in the Northeast or anywhere across the country.
“We also hereby reject the accusation of running an abortion programme levelled at our military, We state categorically that this story is a scary instance of fake news and disinformation combined. The writers deserve an award in fiction writing.
“The question is: what’s the motive of this news agency and the usual suspects who have latched on to this story? Why is this so-called investigation coming at a time that our heroic men and women in uniform have been recording successes after successes, decimating the terrorists, rescuing abducted persons and receiving hundreds of thousands of terrorists who have surrendered?
“For the record, the Nigerian military has rescued 11 Chibok girls with all their children, 2,018 other persons, while 82,645 persons, comprising 16,621 male fighters, 24,638 women and 41,386 children, have surrendered and the military has also neutralized 494 terrorists.”
“Why is this news agency not playing up these positive news but instead chose to give prominence to a phantom abortion story? Is this a ploy to demoralize and distract our fighting forces?,the Minister queried.
“Is it a strategy to set the world against Nigeria and cut off the support that is critical to crushing terrorists?,he further asked.
“Only the news agency that published that report can answer these questions, But we stand by our military, which has served meritoriously at home, and at regional and global peacekeeping operations from 1960 to date. We know that military operations in the Northeast are not arbitrary but based on the military’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and Rules of Engagement (ROE), among others.”
The Minister said where any proven infraction or criminal act has been committed by any soldier, the law has always taken its course adding that it was dangerous to accuse a nation’s military, without any verifiable evidence of massive illegal abortions.
PIAK
