More military statements have been heard, even as the Special Independent Investigative Panel investigates suspected Human Rights Violations by officers of the Armed Forces during counter-insurgency operations in the North East.
Brigadier General Haruna Garba, Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army Amour Corps (NAAC) Headquarters Bauchi and former Garrison Commander, 7 Div Garrison Maiduguri, testified before the seven-member panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki, a former Supreme Court justice.
Brigadier Garba refuted a Reuters report that the military had carried out mass abortions in the North East for over a decade as part of preparations to eliminate the offspring of Boko Haram members.
He said there is no way the military could have been involved in such crimes having been in the forefront of trying to restore peace to the North east and other parts of the country.
According to him, the allegation is only intended to demoralize the military personnel in the theatre of war at a time when they seem to be gaining victory over the terrorist elements.
So far, nine top military officers have testified before the 7-man panel of experts during the third batch of sitting.
Also appearing on Friday before the panel to testify is the former Chief of Staff of the Military Multinational Joint Task Force, Brig. General Tuni Isah who describes the allegation as unimaginable.
He said the Nigerian Army is a professional organization which operates within the ambit of the law.
Reuters reported in 2022 that the Nigerian military through a clandestine operation terminated 10,000 pregnancies of women who were either rescued from Boko Haram fighters or married to them.
The report also alleged that the military carried out a massacre of children in the Northeast.
The organization had claimed that the clandestine operation codenamed” OPERATION NO LIVING THINGS” was carried out by soldiers in the theatre of war as vengeance against the Boko Haram fighters and to ensure that the children of the terrorist fighters were wiped out.