Nigeria: thousands of former Boko Haram hostages victims of forced abortions by the army
A Nigerian woman, anonymous to protect her identity, who told Reuters she had an abortion under a secret program run by the Nigerian military.
REUTERS - PAUL CARSTEN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
An investigation published by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday, December 7 reveals a "
secret, systematic and illegal program
" carried out by the Nigerian army since at least 2013, to perform forced abortions on former jihadist captives in the north. -eastern Nigeria.
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With our correspondent in Lagos
,
Liza Fabbian
At least 10,000 women and young girls, some minors, would have undergone abortions without their knowledge or against their will,
according to this long investigation
.
It is a sordid and "
elaborately designed
" enterprise described by the many witnesses interviewed by Reuters, from young women who have had abortions to health workers and soldiers stationed
in the northeast .
from Nigeria.
For at least ten years, thousands of former
Boko Haram hostages,
pregnant by their jailers, were reportedly given injections or abortion pills under military supervision.
This secret program "
is a large-scale operation, with complex logistics, requiring careful coordination
", according to the Reuters investigation.
Several deaths
Some were even said to have been physically restrained before undergoing a surgical abortion, unless they were forced into submission under beatings or the threat of a gun.
Most of the victims, some minors at the time, were completely unaware of the procedure until they began to bleed heavily, Reuters said.
Some needed blood transfusions, others lost their lives, according to several witnesses interviewed by Reuters.
“
A total of eight sources, including four soldiers, said they had witnessed the deaths or had seen the bodies of women who had died following abortions performed in military barracks or administered in the field
,” notes the investigation.
The army denies
To justify the existence of this program, a health worker interviewed by the British press agency evokes “
the stigmatization
” of which children born of rape by jihadists are victims.
In addition, the idea that they would naturally be destined to become insurgents in turn is widespread among the military and in society in northeastern Nigeria, the survey points out.
It would therefore be a question of "
cleaning up society
", according to the terms used by a civilian staff quoted in the article.
The Nigerian army command responded at length to Reuters' allegations, which were dismissed outright.
“
There is nothing secret (…) we have never done that.
We will never do that, it's not in our nature
,” said Major General Christopher Musa, head of the counter-offensive led by the Nigerian army in the northeast.
“
This fiction is an insult to Nigerians and their culture (…) which respects life
”, can we also read in a long press release published last Friday.
► To read also: Women and children, the first victims of the atrocities of Boko Haram
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