By Emma Okereh
The Special Independent Investigative Panel (SIIP),on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency in the North East, on Friday, submitted its report to the National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC).The ceremony which took place in Abuja witnessed an array of representatives of international organizations and partners of the commission in attendance. It includes the EU, UNICEF, UNDHR and US Embassy. Others include representatives of the CDS, COAS and Chief of Air Staff.
The panel was inaugurated in 2023 by the NHRC following reports by Reuters which alleged several incidences of abuses on citizens by officers and men of the Nigerian military operating in the North East during the time under review.
Reuters had alleged that the military carried out forced abortions totalling 10,000 on women in the area. Other abuses include torture, rape, extra-judicial killings, abductions and illegal detention, among others.
In the report which was made public and presented to the executive secretary of the commission, Dr Tony Ojukwu, the panel said there was no evidence to support allegations of 10,000 abortions levelled against the military.
In a graphic presentation made by the General Counsel of the panel, Hilary Ogbonna, it explained that it also interviewed non state actors as witnesses such as district heads and others from the affected places.
The hospitals, both military and civilians, including the statistics of drugs used in abortion related issues under the period did not add up.
It rather indicted Medecins Sans Frontieres, (MSF) of conducting illegal abortions on women in the North East, adding that Reuters ignored such infractions by MSF and some other non-governmental organisations.
The panel said it was unbelievable that the International Committee of the Red Cross, an organisation that oversees issues of human rights could refuse to appear to testify and provide relevant information to unravel the truth on such grave allegations.
It however submitted that the military committed infanticide, the killing of infants in Marte community of Borno State.
The panel said some non-governmental organisations committed a lot of infractions in the North East while disguising as community based organisations and pointed directly at Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF for operating clinics where illegal abortions were administered on women.
Earlier in his opening remark, the chairman of the 7-man panel, Justice Abdu Aboki (rtd) thanked the Commission for setting up the panel aimed at getting the truth or otherwise of the allegations contained in the Reuters report.
While inaugurating the panel, the NHRC charged the Justice Aboki panel to ” investigate allegations of gross human rights violations contained in the Reuters report of 2022, receive memoranda from the public on allegations of human rights violations by the Nigerian Armed Forces in counter-insurgency operations and make determinations on culpability and recommendations for accountability and reforms”.
He noted that the panel worked without any form of interference from the NHRC or any other government agency in the country
Giving graphic details of the report, General Counsel of the panel, said the report is in three volumes made up of main reports, summary of report and graphics.
He said the panel sat for 12 weeks spread across 18 months, with 199 witnesses making appearance before the panel, made up of senior military officers, theatre commanders and men of the military, civilians and medical personnel, local government and state officials and members of the public.
According to him, the panel sat in four different locations which are Maiduguri in Borno State, Damaturu, Adamawa and Abuja.
Speaking after receiving the report, the executive secretary , thanked the panel for the efforts put in the investigation which he said started in 2023.
He said the panel was set up in accordance with Sec. 5 and 6 of the NHRC Act 2010, as amended, as a response to the grave allegations contained in the Reuters report.
Ojukwu said the reports calls for clarity action as well as highlights the urgent need for transparency in security operations in the country as well as the need to protect citizens from impunity.
Ojukwu stated that the panel has recommended to the federal government that payment of compensation to the victims of the killings in Abisare in Marte local government of Borno state be made within 90 days of the receipt of the report .
It also recommended to the Nigerian Armed Forces and other appropriate authorities to constitute a court martial to prosecute suspected officers and men of the defunct 8 Task Force Division, Monguno, who were operational in Abisare in June 2016 or other units of the military in that location within the period.
