By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja
THE African Centre for Human Rights Protection, ACHRP, has described the alleged secret mass abortion programme on victims of insurgency in the Northeast as a plot by foreign elements to distract the armed forces from the ongoing onslaught against terrorists in the region.
Reuters, last Wednesday, in a report bluntly denied by the army, claimed the Nigeria’s military had conducted a year-long illicit programme to carry out abortions among women and girls who have been victims of insurgency.
Reacting, ACHRP said it had become the pastime of the ‘enemies’ of the country to resort to flying dubious kites and selling cheap dummies to distract the people and blur the victories recorded by the troops, whenever it was gaining the upper hand in the fight against terrorism in the country.
The Executive Director of the rights group, Dr Fabian Nyiakula, who stated this at a briefing in Abuja on Friday, explained that the organisation came to this conclusion after carrying out an extensive analysis of the operations of the military in the north-east.
He said: “The Nigerian Army does not detain women and children victims of the Boko Haram onslaught. Instead, it is a known fact that upon rescuing women and children from Boko Haram camps, these women and children are availed of medical assistance in designated and recognized health facilities, not detention camps, as erroneously claimed by Reuters.
“The puerile attempt to paint the Nigerian Army in a bad light must have stemmed from the recent gains recorded in the prosecution of the war against terrorism, which by all indications is not appreciated by some foreign elements.
“The implication of the report by Reuters is that this imagined abortion programme went unnoticed by the hundreds of Non-governmental organizations working in North East Nigeria, including reputable United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organizations that have assisted in significant measures in assisting victims of Boko Haram brutality on unarmed civilians.”
However, Dr Nyiakula pointed out that the efforts of the Nigerian military in addressing the threats posed by Boko Haram terrorism in Northeast region have been noteworthy, adding that the work of stakeholders including the troops at assisting victims of Boko Haram have also received global commendations.
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