The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has absolved the Nigerian military of involvement in an alleged mass abortion program reportedly conducted in the North-East. The allegations, originally raised in a December 2022 Reuters report, claimed that the Nigerian military had covertly terminated at least 10,000 pregnancies of women and girls—many of whom were survivors of Boko Haram captivity—since 2013.

In the report titled “The Abortion Assault,” Reuters cited accounts from 33 women who claimed the military carried out abortions without their consent, sometimes employing force or intimidation. In response, the NHRC launched a Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations, chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Abdul Aboki, to investigate the claims.

At a press briefing in Abuja, the NHRC stated that based on witness testimonies, no evidence was found of a systematic abortion program by the military. According to NHRC spokesperson Hillary Ogbonna, data obtained from hospitals showed that legal medical procedures, specifically Manual Vacuum Aspirations, were conducted in hospitals in the region but totaled only 5,945 between 2013 and 2023.

Ogbonna also revealed that testimonies from whistleblowers indicated involvement by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in abortion-related activities in the North-East. However, MSF declined to appear before the NHRC panel, and Ogbonna stated, “There is evidence that MSF may have operated a program of illegal abortion in the North-East based on testimonies from protected witnesses.”

While clearing the military of the abortion allegations, the NHRC report highlighted other human rights concerns, including an incident in which the military was found culpable for infanticide and civilian casualties in Abisare, Borno State, on June 16, 2016.