As Nigeria’s human rights commission holds hearings on reports of a mass, army-run forced abortion program in the country’s war-torn northeast, two more women have come forward to testify that they underwent abortions in military custody without their consent. Binta Yau and Rabi Ali, who met by chance at a wedding outside Nigeria, shared their painful experiences with Reuters, adding to the testimonies of more than 30 other women and girls who have described having their pregnancies forcibly terminated by the military during the government’s war against Islamist insurgents.
Yau and Ali’s accounts are similar to those of the 33 Nigerian women and girls interviewed by Reuters in a December report, which revealed that many of the abortions were done without the women’s consent or knowledge at the time. Some women and girls were as young as 12 years old and were tied down, drugged, or forced at gunpoint to undergo the procedures. Military and hospital documents, as well as interviews with health workers and soldiers, supported the accounts of the women.
The accounts of Yau and Ali have come to light as a panel of the government-appointed National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) investigates the abortion program and a pattern of targeting and killing children, from infants to teens, in combat operations by the military. Soldiers who participated in these operations reportedly believed that children in the region were related to or working with Islamist insurgents. The abortion program was driven, in part, by the notion that children of insurgents were destined to one day take up arms against the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian military has previously denied the existence of the abortion program and the deliberate killing of unarmed children. Major General Christopher Musa, the former top commander of the counterinsurgency campaign in northeast Nigeria, stated in a November interview with Reuters that such actions did not occur in Nigeria, and that the military respects families, women, and children. However, Yau and Ali, who were interviewed separately, assert that they underwent forced abortions and experienced mistreatment by the military.
Yau stated that her abortion was done about three years ago at Giwa Barracks, a detention center in Maiduguri, the largest city in Nigeria’s northeast and the command center of the government’s war on Islamist extremists. She reported that three other women were forced to have abortions in the same room with her. Yau’s account is consistent with those of other women and health workers who told Reuters that abortions were performed in groups, ranging from a handful to 50 or 60 at a time. The conflict zone in northeastern Nigeria, including the states of Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa, has been the site of the abortion program, according to satellite images and testimonies.
The testimonies of Yau and Ali, along with the other women and girls who have come forward, highlight the need for further investigation into the alleged forced abortion program by the Nigerian military. The ongoing hearings by the National Human Rights Commission are crucial in holding those responsible accountable for these human rights violations. The women hope that by sharing their stories, human rights organizations and other authorities can take action to prevent similar abuses from happening in the future.
