Forced abortions among Boko Haram victims: They just want us to look bad -CDS Christopher Musa

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has dismissed allegations that the Nigerian military conducted forced abortions on women impregnated by Boko Haram insurgents in Northern Nigeria.

A 2022 Reuters report alleged that the military secretly terminated at least 10,000 pregnancies as part of its counter-insurgency efforts.

However, speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, General Musa described the accusations as baseless and a smear campaign by certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with ulterior motives.

Musa, who was the theatre commander when the claims surfaced, said, “Whenever we are succeeding, they throw this at us to make us look bad.”

He recalled urging former Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor to investigate the matter thoroughly, confident that no such acts occurred.

“When this came up, I told General Irabor we should investigate it thoroughly because I was confident nothing like this happened,” he said.

An independent panel set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) investigated the allegations for over a year, with unrestricted access granted by the military. General Musa, who testified in January 2023, stated that the panel found no evidence supporting the claims.

“The NHRC committee investigated this for one and a half years, and I was the first to testify in January 2023. They had complete access to go wherever they wanted, and their report found no evidence of these claims,” he said.

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The general called for a public apology from those who made the allegations and revealed that the military has approached the Attorney General for legal action. He also criticised the silence of international organisations and NGOs, questioning their failure to report such actions over the alleged 10-year period.

Musa further suggested that the allegations might have originated from NGOs involved in abortion-related programs, challenging their motives and credibility.