Utibe Ekoson

In a related development, Global human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has demanded that the Nigerian government probe the recent report about the forced abortion allegedly carried out by the leadership of the Nigerian Army.

The organization’s call is sequel to a controversial report indicting the Nigerian army of initiating a secret systematic and illegal abortion programme in the northeast.

The report revealed that the women and girls ranged from a few weeks to eight months pregnant, and some were as young as 12 years old, interviews and records showed.

But reacting to the  report, Amnesty International in a statement condemned the reported actions of the army and noted that such forced abortions constitute gender-based violence that may amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The organization, in its three-thronged demand, called on the Nigerian government to thoroughly and impartially investigate this report of forced abortions committed by the Nigerian Army.

The human rights advocate organization also demanded that the perpetrators of the gender-based violence should be prosecuted, while calling on the government to provide effective reparations to all victims of forced abortion committed by the Nigerian Army.