In December 2022, the news international agency, Reuters, ruffled the country’s counter terrorism operations in the North East with a damning publication titled “Nightmare in Nigeria”. The three piece report alleged “mass abortion programme” of 10, 000 forced abortions children’s massacre “aimed at women and girls impregnated by Boko Haram fighters, and targeted killings of children vilified as offspring or allies of the enemy”.
The report put Nigeria on the spot with huge human rights, humanitarian and national security implications. After series of refutation by provoked defence headquarters in the nation’s capital, Abuja, and also in response to frenzied calls by livid members of the public and global human rights community, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, responded quickly.
Relying on Sections 5 and 6 of the NHRC Act which gives the commission the mandate to receive complaints, investigate human rights violations in Nigeria and make appropriate determination and compensation to victims of human rights violations, the Commission set up a Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violation in Counter-Insurgency Operations in North-East Nigeria otherwise known as (SIIP-North East) headed by the eminent retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Abdu Aboki. Indeed, that was a remarkable step.
After 18 months of extensive and exhaustive work, testimonies of 199 witnesses and visit to 20 field locations, SIIP-North East submitted its report to the NHRC last week, and it (report) exonerated the military of Reuters poisonous news report. The verdict of the report which was read by the Mr. Hillary Ogbona, the General Counsel to the Panel and the Senior Human Right Adviser to the NHRC’s Executive Secretary dismissed Reuters allegations: “The panel did not find evidence that the Nigerian Armed Forces committed a systematic, secret, or policy-driven abortion in the North-East to the tune of 10,000 abortions”.
The report however found the military culpable of killing members of Abisare community, Marte Local Government area of Borno State, on the 16th of June, 2016, according to received witness testimonies, including survivors and relations of victims. Also, the panel found out that, based on witness testimony, “an NGO, Medecins San Frontieres (MSF), was engaged in abortion procedures for some years in the North East through its medical facilities that it operated”.
As a newspaper house, looking at the NHRC’s SIIP on North East report, we found it shocking that a big foreign media organization such as Reuters would make such a destructive whole sale assertion without any evidence or whatsoever. When Reuters was availed the opportunity to defend the integrity of it’s report, it failed to appear before the panel. This development is unfortunate and sickening, very unbecoming indeed of antagonistic foreign media reportage about Nigeria and developing countries.
While we commend NHRC and members of the panel for a patriotic job well done, we urge Nigerians to continue to support our troops at the frontline who are paying high prices to secure the country, and as well point out their errors for necessary corrections.
We also align with all the recommendations of the panel and urge the government at all level to study the report carefully and implement same accordingly. Part of the recommendations include compensation to victims of the killings in Abisare community in Marte Local Government within 90 days of the receipt of the report; court marshalling of suspected soldiers for various anti human rights offences, among others.
We also recommend that the issue should not end there. The federal government should take further decisive step towards ensuring that Reuters is ethically and professionally held accountable. For a report that has national security implications such as that, it is necessary to invoke relevant sections of local and international laws and instruments in order to address the matter squarely to serve as deterrent to others. This serves our national interest and should be pursued to its logical end.