At least 10,000 abortions have been performed in Nigeria’s northeast at military and civilian facilities under the auspices of the Nigerian Army since at least 2013, according to a Reuters investigation. The abortion program was aimed at women and girls who were kidnapped and impregnated by Islamist insurgents during their long war against the government in the country’s northeast.
The figure is based on more than 50 interviews with soldiers, guards, and health workers involved in the program, women who underwent abortions, and other civilian witnesses, as well as an examination of hospital registers and other documents. Reuters took a conservative approach to tallying abortions, and the actual number of abortions in the northeast over the decade could be significantly higher.
35 women and girls told Reuters they underwent abortions while in the custody of the Nigerian Army after escaping or being liberated from insurgent captivity. Eighteen said they had abortions in groups, ranging from a handful of people to 50 or 60 at a time, suggesting that each person’s experience represents a sliver of a larger total.
Civilian hospital registers recorded 155 separate abortions, including the names of the women, their ages, dates of admission, number of weeks pregnant, and drugs/surgery administered to them. The records describe abortions performed between 2017 and 2020 at two civilian hospitals in the city of Maiduguri and three other civilian hospitals outside of Borno state.
The minimum number of abortions performed at a single army base outside Maiduguri between 2016 and 2020 was 3,900, according to one soldier who said he was involved in 3,900 abortions there during that time. Another soldier, whose tenure at the base overlapped with the first, said he witnessed thousands more abortions during that period – recalling an average of around five per day. In addition, documents reviewed by Reuters show that 5,200 abortions were performed at the same base between 2017 and 2019.
The minimum number of abortions performed in the Maiduguri area between 2013 and 2021 was 7,000, according to separate interviews with three soldiers and one guard. Their figures ranged from 7,000 to 8,600. The soldiers said they were ordered to keep careful track of the pregnant women.
The figures provided by the sources may overlap, as some sources may have been involved in some of the same transports. Reuters interviewed nine security personnel, including soldiers and other government employees such as guards, for the story.
Reuters took a conservative approach to tallying the number of abortions and noted that the actual number could be significantly higher. The investigation sheds light on the brutality of the war in Nigeria’s northeast and highlights the need for accountability and justice for the victims of the conflict.
