The Attorney General of Yobe State and the Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Saleh Samanja said that the State Government is unaware of any abortion programme carried out by the Military in the State Government’s Hospitals throughout the insurgency period in the North East.
The Attorney General made this known Wednesday in Damaturu while fielding questions on such allegations from the officials of a Special Independent Investigative Panel of the National Human Rights Commission.
The Commissioner further revealed that during the peak of insurgency, the Federal Government of Nigeria, declared State of Emergency in Borno and Yobe which were considered as worst hit by Boko Haram insurgency and the Federal Government advised the state to give the Military maximum Cooperation in order to fish out Boko Haram.
The commissioner added that all the State Government officials had no right to decide what the military should do or not.
He therefore noted that no any case of abortion was carried out by the Military in any of the State Government Hospitals.
Giving highlights on why the Panel is in Yobe State, the Deputy Director Corporate Affairs of the National Human Rights Commission, Fatima Muhammad said the Panel, inaugurated in February 2023 is on a fact finding mission on allegations raised by Reuters Media Platform that about 10,000 abortions were conducted by the Military during the insurgency period in the North East.
According to Fatima, the Panel will consult every stakeholder as well as people of the community to get first hand information on the alleged cases.
The Panel held a discussion as well as questions and answers session with the Military, Civil Society Organizations and Government Agencies.
