Notwithstanding that Nigeria’s military has described as false a Reuters report that Nigeria’s military forced about 10,000 women to have abortions over a 10-year period, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Nigerian authorities to investigate allegations of systemic and coerced abortions reportedly perpetrated by its army.
Military Defence Chief, Gen. Lucky Irabor, had described the report as ‘spurious allegations’ noting that the military does not intend to investigate the claims.
According to the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, “The Secretary-General takes note with concern of the allegations of systemic and coerced abortions reportedly perpetrated by the Nigerian Army against women and girls who had already been victimized by Boko Haram,” Dujarric said in an email to Reuters.
He called for a thorough investigation and “immediate remedial actions and accountability measures,” if such measures were necessary.
“We call on the Nigerian authorities to fully investigate these allegations and make sure there’s accountability.”
A US State Department spokesperson according to Aljazeera said the Biden administration was “deeply troubled.”
“Our embassy in Abuja is seeking further information, including from the government of Nigeria and stakeholders working in this space,” the spokesperson said. “We have encouraged the government of Nigeria to take the allegations seriously and to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, and we will continue to do so.”
The Reuters news agency reported on December 7 that the Nigerian Army has run a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the country’s northeast since at least 2013.
The programme they allege involved terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Boko Haram, according to dozens of witness accounts and documentation reviewed by Reuters.
Reuters reports that Information Minister Lai Mohammed could not immediately be reached for comment on the UN call for an investigation.
