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- NHRC suspects foul play over appearance of Reuters’ counsel
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Nigerian Army has denied any involvement in the alleged termination of 10,000 pregnancies and the massacre of children in the North East, as reported by Reuters.
The denial came through its witness, Major General Victor Ezeugwu, who appeared before the Special Independent Investigation Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in North East.
Speaking at the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) on Saturday, Gen Ezeugwu expressed surprise about Reuters’ allegations of massive abortion of pregnancies, the massacre of children, and other forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
While vehemently denying the report, the witness stated that such claims have no place in a professional and modern Army.
Meanwhile, the probe panel has expressed surprise and suspicion at the sudden appearance at the panel a lawyer from Reuters, Clifford Kalu, who walked into the hearing session, despite the international media organisation’s refusal to appear before the panel.
In his testimony before the 7-member panel, Gen Ezeugwu dismissed the allegations against the army as unfounded.
“Assuming such violations took place, it would have been taken up by the hierarchy of the military because apart from Army channels, there are other means of checking any possible abuse or infractions on the part of the soldiers,” he stated.
“Describing the abortions as secret and systematic is trying to justify that 10,000 abortions were done by the Army despite the fact that every Army commander has a way of making sure they check the activities of soldiers,” he added.
The witness, who is a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, stated that the allegation is not based on facts, saying it is not a true testimony of what Nigerian soldiers are doing in the North East and these cannot be substantiated.
Meanwhile, the commission said it was curious about the appearance of Reuters’ counsel at the panel sitting after turning down its earlier invitation.
Secretary to the panel, Mr Hilary Ogbonna, had earlier invited Reuters to appear before the panel to substantiate its allegations of abortion of 10,000 pregnancies, massacre of children, and other forms of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against the Nigerian military in its counter-insurgency operations in the North East.
The Commission has expressed the view that Reuters’ behaviour suggests foul play because when a member of the secretariat of the panel asked him to wait in the waiting room, as the panel cannot have both Reuters and the Army in the hall while the cross-examination of the top military official is going on, Mr Clifford left, again unannounced, and never came back.
Before Clifford’s unexpected visit to the panel, his client, Reuters, had written to the Commission explaining its inability to honour the summons.
This is unfortunate because Reuters seem not to cooperate with the Commission and this is unexpected for such a news agency.
On March 21, 2023, Reuters, through the services of Olumide Babalola chambers, wrote a letter to the Commission titled, “Notice of objection to summons to witnesses”, dated the 16th day of March 2023, issued on Paul Carsten, Reade Levinson, David Lewis, Libby George, and Christophe Van Der Perre brought pursuant to Section 6 (2)(b) (e) of the National Human Rights Commission Act 2010. In the letter, Reuters claimed that the witnesses do not have any physical or business presence in Nigeria and, by extension, are outside the territorial jurisdiction of the panel.
Meanwhile, the panel heard the testimony of Mr Emmanuel Ajah, country director of Marie Stopes, an international organisation that provides family planning services. Marie Stopes was alleged to have been involved in the abortion saga. In his testimony, Mr Ajah said that his organisation does not conduct illegal abortions but provides post-abortion care and that the Reuters allegation is a pure misrepresentation of facts.
Mr Ajah, who said his organisation collaborated with public offices in the country in the course of their services, the country director, and Dr Kingsley Odogwu, a specialist gynaecologist with Marie Stopes in their oral evidence before the panel said that they only had cases where women who are at risk of their lives are given medical assistance to save their lives during complicated medical conditions.
