By Raphael Ekpang
The Medical Director (MD) of the Borno State Specialist hospital Dr. Baba Shehu Mohammed has expressed shock over Reuters’ alleged Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) including the massacre of children by the Nigerian Military in the course of Counter Insurgency Operations going on in the North East Dr Mohammed wondered how a reputable organisation like Reuters will also alleged that the military carried out abortion of 10, 000 pregnancies at the process.
Dr Mohammed who was interrogated by the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East (SIIP-NE) currently in fact- finding missions in Maiduguri said was no how abortion of such magnitude was carried out and nobody within the environment knows about it and people are not talking about it too.
The panel as part of it’s mandate visited the Borno State Specialist Hospital on fact-finding missions into alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the Nigerian Military as contained in a three-part report released by Reuters, an international News Agency, in late 2022.
The 7-man Panel Chaired by a retired Supreme Court Justice, Hon. Justice Abdu Aboki (Rtd), engaged the health management team of the hospital in a series of questions relating to the allegations contained in the Reuters report.
The Medical Director (MD) of the hospital Dr. Baba Shehu Mohammed who was interrogated by the Panel’s lead counsel Mr. Hilary Ogbonna, said, “The Hippocratic Oath taken by every medical doctor the world over prohibits unprofessional practices including abortions. Abortion is a form of killing, even where it involves chicken if a man kills up to 10,000 of them people around him will know and talk about it, let alone 10, 000 pregnancies of women and girls allegedly done since 2013 and nobody heard about it until in 2022 when Reuters’ released the report? This is incomprehensible.”
On Reuters’ alleged Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) including the massacre of children by the Nigerian Military in the course of Counter Insurgency Operations going on in the North East, he said, “the Military is expected to provide protection for victims, especially women and children, why then will they turn around to kill the children? “Even Moses was brought up by Pharaoh who was a tyrant, why will anyone kill a child?” he questioned.
On the alleged involvement of the Hospital in the “secret abortion programme” as alleged by Reuters, Dr. Mohammed said, “No public hospital will do that and if such a thing really happens, it will be easy to get the survivor”. He noted that the hospital had received reports of several deaths occasioned by insurgency but none from abortions and massacre of children by the Military as alleged.
The MD, however, conceded that the Hospital manages miscarriages and allows medical abortions which he noted are done to save the lives of women who while pregnant go through some serious health condition including cardiovascular disorder; however this must be after thorough consultations involving several doctors who must agree to the termination of pregnancy as a last resort to save the life of the mother.
On the issue of the woman who was brought into the hospital dead resulting from bleeding from abortion and deposited in the mortuary by the hospital guard, as also contained in the Reuters’ report, the former MD said the hospital guard does not have any business handling patients or corpses as that was not his line of duty, “the hospital guard only controls crowd and persons from getting access to prohibited areas.
On this allegation, the Hospital Mortician, Mallam Ahmadu Mohammed stated that the Hospital does not accept corpses without asking for the death certificate and Hospital card of the victims (for in-patients) and that for corpses coming from outside, appropriate documentation must be made in the Hospital before the Morticians accept such corpses for keep in the Hospital Morgue.
Other personnel who gave oral evidence to the panel are Dr. Umar U. Zarah HOD and Consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Juliana Judiufa HOD, Health Information Management, and Pharmacist Alheri Mbiting HOD, Department of Pharmacy
