The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor will tomorrow, May 12, testify before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) investigative panel on rights violations in counter insurgency operations in the North-East to respond to allegations raised by news agency, Reuters in its four-part reports published in December, 2022 and April, 2023 respectively.
This was revealed by the counsel for the Nigerian Army, Abdulwahab Mohammed SAN, on Thursday while seeking the indulgence of the panel to adjourn its sitting till tomorrow.
The senior advocate informed the panel that the army witnesses scheduled to appear before it today were out on assignment to Bauchi and had flight difficulty to come to Abuja to appear before the panel.
In view of this, Mohammed pleaded with the panel to adjourn its sitting to Friday, when the CDS and other witnesses will appear to give testimony.
The general counsel for the panel, headed by a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Abdu Aboki, Hillary Ogbona, did not object the application for adjournment. The panel, therefore, adjourned its sitting till tomorrow.
General Irabor was involved at some point in the counter insurgency operations of the Nigerian military in the North-East, where more than 12-year-old insurgency is ravaging.
The CDS served in the theatre of war variously as Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole between March, 2016 and May, 2017 before being appointed as Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force, which he led from May, 2017 to August, 2018.
Exercising its power under Sections 5 and 6 of the NHRC Act, the commission out the investigative panel was put in place following allegations of human rights violations by the military in the North-East, including procuring about 10,000 illegal systemic abortions for women and girls, deliberate massacre of children in order to prevent them from becoming insurgents in the future, among others.
Testifying before the panel on Wednesday, two former theatre commanders, Major-General Benson Akinroluyo (retd) and Major-General Hassan Umar (retd) but denied the allegations against the military by Reuters, describing them as “baseless and untrue”.
According to Akinroluyo, “I heard about the Reuters’ report on the social media. My reaction is that it is baseless, untrue and cannot happen under my watch. It came to me as a surprise when I read it on the social media.”
He told the panel that all soldiers were versed in international standards on human rights, adding that their instruction in the counter-insurgency operation was to treat Nigerians very well and deal with those who carry arms against the country.
He denied allegations of killing civilians, including children, by soldiers during the time he was the theatre commander, saying that, “there was nothing like killing children in mass graves. There is no soldier that will say he got order (to kill people). We are directed to protect the people and deal with those who bear arms again the country.”
On his part, Umar though the allegations by the news agency was touching, there was never any time any of the allegations occurred when he was in charge of the theatre.
“I was never aware of any policy directing blockage of feeders for Boko Haram through illegal abortions. Honestly, I am surprised to read of these allegations against the Nigerian Army. Nothing of such (allegations) happened,” he said.
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