Panel begins probe of Nigerian military

The Abdu Aboki-led Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations established by the Nigerian government to investigate allegations of gross rights violations by the country’s military has begun sitting in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The panel was specifically tasked with investigating allegations of forced mass abortions on pregnant women by Nigerian military forces, as revealed in a Reuters investigation last year.

The revelation, which attracted global attention, stated that since 2013, the Nigerian military has carried out “a secret, systematic and illegal abortion program in the north-east of the country, which has ended at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls” who were abducted and raped by Islamic militants.

After arriving in Maiduguri this week, the panel members met with relevant stakeholders, including the Shehu of Borno and top officials of the state government as well as the military.

During the first panel sitting at the Maimalar Canton medical facility complex on Saturday, the panelists included the commander of the most important military hospital, Adeniyi Ogunsakin, lieutenant colonel.

They were led by the principal counsel of the National Human Rights Commission and Secretary of the Panel, Hillary Ogbonna, who cross-examined Mr. Ogunsakin for over two hours.

Mr Ogunsakin, who heads all military medical facilities in Nigeria’s 7th Division army, denied most of the claims published in the Reuters report.

Mr. Ogunsakin said the allegation of mass abortion “is just a claim anyone can make without any basis or evidence to back it up.”

“We have never had such a problem in this hospital, nor have we received any reports in all the records of this hospital for more than ten years,” he said.

The commander, who has been in the army medical corps for more than 16 years, explained the procedure for rescuing civilian casualties and how the medical corps usually handles them.

“When troops rescue civilian casualties from Boko Haram or during firefights, they are usually rescued and taken to the rear of forward troops where they are given emergency treatment before being taken by road or helicopter to the 7Division Hospital in Maiduguri. They are being medically examined, given the needed treatment and then handed back to Commando Theater from where they were taken to a government-owned hospital for further medical attention.

The colonel said that civilian casualties were not admitted to the hospital beyond “a few hours” because the hospital was reserved for military personnel and their family members, while civilians were only given outpatient services.

Mr. Ogunsakin said the only rescued civilian victims admitted to the hospital were the 12 Chibok school girls who were rescued from captivity.

Asked whether the hospital performed abortions on patients rescued from Boko Haram captivity, the military commander said all female patients of childbearing age undergo various tests, including malaria, genital infections and even pregnancy. certified obstetric gynecologist.

“The Obstetrician Gynecology Consultant treats the patient for any disease that has been diagnosed and ensures that he is stable. The patient will be sent back to the Operation Theater to be sent to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA),” he said.

He said the hospital does not sanction or perform abortion of pregnancy on any patient.

“The only female civilians diagnosed with pregnancy at the hospital are two of the 12 Chibok schoolgirls,” he said. “And they both found out they were pregnant.”

“In the general rescue that we experienced in the field, no cases were diagnosed with pregnancy. We did not admit them here, as I said, but they were transferred to the State Specialist Hospital, where the ICRC has a clinic.

In the alleged “illegal abortions, forced and unconsented, Mr. Ogunsakin said: “The accusation is highly fallacious because even as military doctors, we have signed an oath to protect life, and care for our patients above all else; we prioritize the care and well-being of patients to what end we will kill innocent people in the name of abortion which kills people. We don’t do it in medicine, also in the military medical corps where you have to be disciplined and professional. As the commander here, I am under the command of a General who must know everything that is done here; They receive constant reports on everything that is done here, from the patients to the drugs that are administered.

Another statement in the Reuters report stated that “one of the woman’s full names appeared to be written in Excel from the hospital’s abortion register, which confirmed that she had a surgical abortion and that she absconded from the facility after the procedure; the second woman also confirmed the authenticity of the register containing her name and accurately explained the procedure they have,” the Panel lawyer asked if the commander could confirm the existence of the registration of the abortion. Mr. Ogunsakin replied: “No, we do not have such a record because we do not perform abortions in this hospital, so there is no basis to register the abortion .

He further explained that abortion can only be performed in the case of medical abortion, which he says is done to save life and with consent.

According to a Reuters report, “the secretive nature of the program makes it impossible to determine the number of abortions performed.”

Reuters said the estimate was based on “interviews with soldiers, guards, health workers and women who had abortions, as well as patient registers and other documents.

Reuters further explained that “The tally, at least 10,000, was confirmed by three sets of sources: 155 individual procedures recorded in the patient registry; at least 3,900 performed over several years by soldiers at one military base; and 7,000 or more in other areas described by three soldiers and one bodyguard.Reuters puts the number at 10,000 due to possible overlap in some cases.

Acknowledging that the hospital has military and civilian staff who he said work under strict supervision, Mr. Ogunsakin denied the possibility of any nefarious character carrying out illegal acts like abortion in the hospital or barracks.

He was later examined by two military lawyers led by MY Abdullahi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and Mohammed M Kallah, a retired brigadier general.

Shehu Borno doubted the responsibility of the military

The Shehu of Borno, Abubakar El-Kanemi, said he doubted the military would be blamed for violating rights during counterinsurgency operations in northeastern Nigeria.

Mr. El-Kanemi briefed members of the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in the North East (SIIP-NE) as he paid a courtesy call at the palace.

Traditional rulers expressed their happiness over the visit. He said the Emirates were worried about the Reuters report, pointing out that it could distract the military from carrying out operations, which, he said, had brought relative peace to Borno state and the North-East region in general.

“We are happy with the establishment of the panel by the government; This is a relief for us because we hope to reach the root and wander properly,” he said.

Shehu recalled that before the deployment of troops to the country in the counter-insurgency operation, Borno and other areas in the north-east “several villages were seized, the airport was disabled, roads were closed, telecommunications were disrupted, women and school children were abducted randomly. by the rebels.”

The king said that barbaric crimes and human rights violations were reduced to a minimum “by the deployment of large forces, and I would be very surprised if the panel found the military to have acted unprofessionally and violated human rights.”

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, said the panel visited the Shehu of Borno before starting the meeting so that the Emirate would be aware of the presence of the panel in the State and the purpose of the panel.

He noted that the Reuters report “has serious human rights implications, and as an Independent body that includes other responsibilities.”

“The Commission considers it appropriate to establish the panel as a mandate to assist governments in fulfilling their international human rights obligations,” he said.

The chairman of the panel, Abdu Aboki, a retired judge, said the visit was necessary “to enable the panel to achieve its goal of achieving the truth of the matter and giving justice to all parties.”