Borno Hospital Denies Aborting Pregnancies Of Boko Haram Victims As Panel Probes Military’s Alleged Involvement

The Borno State Specialist Hospital has denied taking part in a secret abortion program for babies in the war against terrorism in the region.

The hospital made the denial when the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East (SIIP-NE) visited as it probes the alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the Nigerian Military.

The panel was set up by the National Human Rights Commission following an investigation by Reuters alleging the military aborted about 10,000 babies since 2013.

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor had described the report as “nonsense” but later agreed to an independent probe into the allegation by Reuters.

The Medical Director (MD) of the hospital Dr. Baba Shehu Mohammed told the 7-man Panel Chaired by a retired Supreme Court Justice, Hon. Justice Abdu Aboki (Rtd), that it will be easy to get survivors if such figures of abortion exist.

According to him, “even where it involves chicken if a man kills up to 10,000 of them people around him will know and talk about it, let alone 10, 000 pregnancies of women and girls allegedly done since 2013 and nobody heard about it until in 2022 when Reuters’ released the report?”

“No public hospital will do that and if such a thing really happens, it will be easy to get the survivor. “Even Moses was brought up by Pharaoh who was a tyrant, why will anyone kill a child?” he queried, in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER on Wednesday night by NHRC, Deputy Director Public Affairs, Fatimah Agwai Mohammed.

Earlier, the Commander of Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) of Operation Hadin Kai in Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri, Borno state, LT. Colonel A.U. Ahmed had said the army cannot be rescuing Nigerians and killing their babies, adding “How can we have all these children here if we terminate pregnancies?”

However, the panel stated that the Borno Hospital MD, ” conceded that the Hospital manages miscarriages and allows medical abortions which he noted are done to save the lives of women who, while pregnant, go through some serious health condition including cardiovascular disorder; however this must be after thorough consultations involving several doctors who must agree to the termination of pregnancy as a last resort to save the life of the mother.”

The statement partly reads, ” He (MD) said the hospital had received reports of several deaths occasioned by insurgency but none from abortions and massacre of children by the Military as alleged.

“This position was corroborated by other Heads of Departments and critical staff of the Hospital, all saying that there have not been any sharp practices and unprofessional conducts as alleged in Reuters’ report.

“For instance, the immediate past MD, Dr. Laraba Bello told the panel that at the peak of the insurgency, the hospital was receiving a lot of casualties including women and girls and these are not for abortions, saying that abortion is not allowed in the hospital.

“On the issue of the woman who was brought into the hospital dead resulting from bleeding from abortion and deposited in the mortuary by the hospital guard, as also contained in the Reuters report, the former MD said the hospital guard does not have any business handling patients or corpses as that was not his line of duty, “the hospital guard only controls crowd and persons from getting access to prohibited areas.

“On this allegation, the Hospital Mortician, Mallam Ahmadu Mohammed stated that the Hospital does not accept corpses without asking for the death certificate and Hospital card of the victims (for in-patients) and that for corpses coming from outside, appropriate documentation must be made in the Hospital before the Morticians accept such corpses for keep in the Hospital Morgue.

“Other personnel who gave oral evidence to the panel are Dr. Umar U. Zarah HOD and Consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Juliana Judiufa HOD, Health Information Management, and Pharmacist Alheri Mbiting HOD, Department of Pharmacy.”