- Want Marie Stopes Expelled From Nigeria
Only a week after Nigerian police detectives raided an abortion clinic operated by ‘Marie Stopes International’ in Lagos, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria has asked the federal government to expedite action and clamp down on clinics and organisations seeking to promote abortion and other unsafe practices that are inimical to reproductive health in the country.
The CSOs, alongside the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH) at a joint press conference, Monday, averred that “abortion is war against children”, warning that “a nation that allows its children to be killed is tottering on the verge of extinction.”
Recall that last Tuesday, men of the Nigerian police force had stormed an abortion clinic at 105, Itire road, Lawanson in Surulere area of Lagos, apprehending a doctor who specializes in carrying out abortion procedures on Nigerian ladies, including teenage girls for a fee ranging between N20,000 to N30,000.
At the abortion clinic which enjoys huge funding from the United Kingdom and other foreign partners — wired through Marie Stopes International — police discovered instruments such as manual vacuum aspirators, abortion injections and pills, as well as files containing contact details of girls who often rush to the clinic daily to have their pregnancies terminated, a risky procedure that flies against several extant laws of Nigeria.
Sections 17, 33 of the 1999 constitution; sections 228, 229, 230 and 238 of the criminal code (with their equivalent in the penal code) and sections 3, 4 and 17 of the Child Rights Act which was enacted in 2003, outlawed abortion in Nigeria, prescribing sundry imprisonment and life sentences for offenders.
However, despite abortion being a criminal offence in the country, a report by the Performance Monitoring and Accountability (PMA2020) stated that over two million cases of abortion occur in Nigeria in 2018 alone. The report further disclosed that the highest incidence were recorded among young girls in secondary schools and women in their early 20s
While coming down heavily on the dangerous procedure, the CSOs stated that “contrary to widespread misconceptions, there are no exceptions under the Nigerian laws in which abortion is permissible, not even under the guise of preserving the health of the mother or pregnancy resulting from rape, incest or any other circumstances at all.”
According to Dr. Obi Ideh, Director, Foundation for African Cultural Heritage, the barrage of social media reactions that trailed the police raid of Marie Stopes clinic made it necessary for the CSOs to come together and educate people who have been listening to a one-sided narrative coming from the clinic and some pro-abortion groups in the country.
“The country should be children friendly by being pro-life which ultimately safeguards the innocence of children and the lives of young women procuring abortion daily.
“Abortion exposes them to materials that damage their character formation and inner development. It’s important for our society to end up with children who are citizens with self control and not driven by appetite that shouldn’t drive them before the right time.
“The raid on Marie Stopes is at the tail end of what the CSO groups have been advocating for,” she told The New Diplomat.
Ideh alleged that Marie Stopes has been lobbying some groups to ensure abortion continues to thrive in Nigeria so as to make certain foreign interests fester. “We must channel our resources to our own peculiar areas of interest and not just take in all foreign agenda from foreigners to solve our own localized problems.”
Drawing a global conspiracy to the increasing number of pro-abortion groups and contraceptives in the country and Africa, Deputy Director, Joint Action Front, Mr. Achike Chude observed that the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry rakes in so much money from contraceptive pills and injections, hence the reason why a lot is being done to distort reality and make it difficult to phase out abortion in African societies.
“From the 1970s till date in Europe, 260 million babies have been aborted and now Europe cannot replace itself again. For instance, look at how Canada is taking in migrants from all over the world to replace its population,” Chude noted, cautioning Nigeria not to open its door to the sort of overt liberalism that has made the western world to see no wrong in carrying out serial abortion procedures.
Urging women to embrace family planning method as alternative to controlling child birth, Dr. Nkechie Asogwa, Doctor’s Health Initiative, said asides the risk of self destruction and death that abortion poses to victims, it also triggers psychological trauma that may be difficult to overcome throughout life.
Similarly, Mr. Jerry Okwuosa, Director General, Project for Human Development disclosed that several studies have shown that “a lady who aborts on or before the age of 18 is likely to develop breast cancer later in life. Unfortunately, that’s the age that many girls are forced to abort pregnancies so as to carry on with other crucial activities of life like education.”
Meanwhile, the coalition of CSOs in a statement released to journalists stressed that “abortion is murder simpliciter”, saying, the Nigerian anti-abortion laws “conform to the religious, cultural and philosophical convictions of the average Nigerian on the street today.”
Asking the federal government to give Marie Stopes a marching order, the group called on President Muhammadu Buhari-administration to follow other African countries in expelling the organisation from Nigeria.
“Marie Stopes has no respect for the religious, cultural and philosophical convictions of the Nigerian people. Marie Stopes is a foreign NGO. Why should it come to Nigeria to kill Nigerian babies. Our people are our greatest resources. Every life is precious in pure sight.
“Apart from Marie Stopes, we’re equally calling on the government to take concrete steps to stop the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria, IPAS, Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria, United Naton Population Funds (UNFPA), Department for International Development (DFID), United State Agency for International Development (USAID) from promoting abortion and abotificement in Nigeria.”
