NewsAlleged Abortion: US Senator Demands Review Of Assistance To Nigeria

Alleged Abortion: US Senator Demands Review Of Assistance To Nigeria

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December 20, (THEWILL) – US Republican Senator and member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Jim Risch, has requested a review of the United States’ security assistance and cooperation programs in Nigeria.

Risch’s remarks followed a Reuters report of an alleged illegal abortion program and killing of children carried out by the Nigerian military.

Reuters had alleged that its investigation revealed the Nigerian military conducted a secret abortion program in the country’s northeast, ending at least 10,000 pregnancies among victims of insurgency.

The report also alleged that women who resisted abortion were beaten, held at gunpoint or drugged into compliance.

While the Nigerian military had denied the allegation and accepted an independent investigation, the Federal Government had rubbished Reuter’s report.

Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture, said the report was a strategy to set the world against Nigeria and cut off the support that is critical to crushing terrorists.

He said Reuters made the allegation without evidence, citing only anonymous sources and the reported review of phantom “documents.”

But Risch, in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urged the State Department to examine the potential use of sanctions in addition to an expeditious review of US security assistance and cooperation with Nigeria.

“I look forward to hearing more about the Department’s planned response to the serious and abhorrent allegations levied against a long-standing beneficiary of U.S. security assistance and cooperation which, if deemed credible, have done irreparable harm to a generation of Nigerian citizens and to U.S. credibility in the region”, Risch said in a letter on Friday.

When questioned about Risch’s letter, a State Department official told newsmen that the United States was still analysing the Reuters story and would decide on further steps once they were finished.

“Decisions to proceed with the provision of military training and equipment are made on a case-by-case basis and consider a variety of factors, including respect for human rights and adherence to the law of armed conflict.

“Our existing defence sales to Nigeria include robust components focused on human rights, preventing civilian harm, and promoting military justice and accountability”, the official said.

Nigeria received Embraer-made A-29 Super Tucanos, slow-flying planes that can give close air support to troops much like a helicopter, last year, while the United States approved nearly $1 billion in military sales to Nigeria earlier this year.

The United States has committed roughly $6 million to the International Military Education and Training (IMET) programme from 2016–2020.

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