United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres known as on Nigerian authorities to research allegations of systemic and coerced abortions reportedly perpetrated by the Nigerian military, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated on Friday.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Nigerian Army has run a secret, systematic and unlawful abortion program within the nation’s northeast since not less than 2013.
The program concerned terminating not less than 10,000 pregnancies amongst girls and women, lots of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Islamist militants, in keeping with dozens of witness accounts and documentation reviewed by Reuters.
“The Secretary-General takes note with concern of the allegations of systemic and coerced abortions reportedly perpetrated by the Nigerian Army against women and girls who had already been victimized by Boko Haram,” Dujarric stated in an e-mail to Reuters.
He known as for a radical investigation and “immediate remedial actions and accountability measures,” if such measures had been obligatory.
“We call on the Nigerian authorities to fully investigate these allegations and make sure there’s accountability,” Dujarric advised reporters afterward Friday.
A US State Department spokesperson stated the Biden administration was “deeply troubled.”
“Our embassy in Abuja is seeking further information, including from the government of Nigeria and stakeholders working in this space,” the spokesperson stated. “We have encouraged the government of Nigeria to take the allegations seriously and to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, and we will continue to do so.”
Nigeria’s protection chief stated on Thursday the army won’t examine the report, saying it was not true. The Nigerian authorities has not responded publicly to the story.
Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed couldn’t instantly be reached for touch upon the UN name for an investigation. —Reuters
