Orphanages And Child Trafficking

The Mandate Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Women Affairs Secretariat, Mrs Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi,  disclosed recently, that  the FCT Administration had sealed off an orphanage in Karonmajigi, the Priesthood Orphanage, after 23 children, aged 1 – 14 years, allegedly trafficked from Plateau state were supposedly rescued from the orphanage.

She also added that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had authorised the Secretariat to profile and recertify orphanages operating within the nation’s capital.

But, this case is not an isolated one as issues of orphan abuses in orphanage homes have become a recurring decimal in the nation’s polity.

Before this development, we recall that in 2017, the FCTA had  also clamped down on illegal orphanages operating in the city over alleged negligence and other nefarious acts.

Repeatedly, operators of orphanage homes in Nigeria have been accused of inappropriate behaviour that often run contrary  to laid down rules on how such charity homes ought to operate.

While some of these homes are said to be involved in selling (not given out on adoption) the children under their care, others are accused of subjecting the children to diverse abuse, hard labour and trafficking.