Time to Scrutinise Activities of Orphanages

Orphanages are meant to be homes devoted to the care of children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their families. However, in Nigeria, inadequate monitoring and oversight have led to reports suggesting that some of these institutions prioritise profit over their core mission, Vanessa Obioha writes

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) recently arraigned Clara Ogo, an 83-year-old woman and founder of the renowned Arrow of God Orphanage in Anambra State, for alleged buying and selling of human beings for any purpose. The arraignment took place at the Federal High Court, Awka Judicial Division, presided over by Justice Hauwa Yilwa.

Ogo, a retired Nigerian Army Lt. Col, and nurse, owns the orphanage located at Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area, with branches in Lagos State. She was handed over to NAPTIP by the state government in October 2023.

Arrow of God Orphanage came under scrutiny in 2023 after an investigative journalist exposed alleged illicit activities related to illegal adoption and sale of babies linked to the orphanage. Following these revelations, NAPTIP launched a comprehensive investigation, resulting in Ogo’s arrest on October 3, 2023, and arraignment on a one-count charge of buying and selling a baby, a five-month-old girl, and thereby committing an offence punishable under Sections 21 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

Though she pleaded not guilty to the offence and was granted bail with a bond of N1.3 million and two sureties in like sum, she was subsequently remanded at the Onitsha Correctional Facility pending the fulfillment of her bail conditions.

The Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Foundation  for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Fisayo Soyombo exposed the orphanage after receiving a tip-off in December 2021 that one baby at the facility costs N1.5 million. He eventually bought a baby at the facility for N2 million. A former student of the school in Oke Ira Nla, Ajah, Lagos, told FIJ that the childcare organisation was a baby factory, even though it started as a “normal orphanage.”  

This prompted the Anambra State Government to seal the orphanage home. The state’s Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, while speaking to journalists after sealing the facility, said the licence of its owner had also been withdrawn indefinitely.

The commissioner said 20 children, comprising 10 boys, nine girls and a newborn were rescued from the facility and were currently in the ministry’s custody. 

She said that appropriate steps were being taken to trace and reunite the children with their respective families.

According to Wikipedia, orphanages are residential institutions, total institutions or group homes, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. In some cases, children picked from the streets are sent to orphanage homes for care.

A few large international charities continue to fund orphanages, but most are still commonly founded by smaller charities and religious groups. It is believed that in Nigeria, orphanages recruit children to ensure continued funding, particularly under the harsh economic situation where they receive little or no government assistance and insufficient public awareness to properly take care of children.

Most orphanages operate under conditions that are injurious to the health of the children.

A report by the National Population Commission, and ICF International 2013 claimed that an estimated 95 per cent of these children do not receive any type of medical, emotional, social, material, or school-related assistance.

Child labour is another form of modern slavery which occurs when a child is exploited for someone else’s gain.

In 2015, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development estimated that there were about 17.5 million orphans and vulnerable children in a nation of more than 200 million people. 

This number has increased over the years due to violence, conflicts and communal clashes in different parts of the country.

It is believed that India, China and Nigeria rank at the top of countries with the highest number of orphans, primarily due to their large populations and challenges like poverty, disease, and conflicts. However, the number of these orphans in orphanages is not well-documented as there are no current statistics. Government-operated homes are supposedly less than five per cent while 95 per cent are private homes.

The prevailing belief in government circles is that the operators of orphanages are philanthropists dedicated to helping disadvantaged children and benefiting society. However, even publicly-funded homes are not faring any better. Many have turned these institutions into businesses, treating the children as commodities and subjecting them to hard labour and other forms of abuse.

Recently, the Mandate Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Women Affairs Secretariat, Mrs. Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, disclosed 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.

Penultimate week, Director-General of NAPTIP, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, revealed that many orphanages in the country were under investigation for child trafficking. 

Observers believe that much more needs to be done by the government at all levels to stop the establishment of illegal orphanages, which are becoming a lucrative business. They call for regulatory agencies and inspectorate departments that authorise these orphanages to monitor them effectively to eliminate abuses.

Recently, the House of Representatives mandated its committees on Women Affairs and Social Development to work with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to standardize orphanages and shut down under-resourced ones. The committee was also tasked with ensuring the safety and well-being of children in orphanage homes across the 36 states and the FCT. Additionally, the House urged the ministry to coordinate with all 36 states and the FCT for immediate and full compliance with the mandates of orphanage homes nationwide.

The House resolution was a sequel to a motion by a member representing Ikwerre Emohua Federal constituency of Rivers State, Hon. Emerengwa Sunday, on the need to stem the tide of the proliferation of orphanages in Nigeria. In his lead debate, he said he observed that many orphanages often prioritise profit over their core mandate, switching it into baby factories, where teenage girls are accommodated to produce babies.

The lawmaker also noted that a good number of orphanage homes are being used for human trafficking where innocent girls are being recruited to embark on illegal migration to foreign countries, where they eventually end up either being abused, prostitutes or housemaids. He urgently called on relevant authorities to clamp down on all unregistered or criminally-motivated orphanages in the country, in fulfillment of the government’s primary duty of security and welfare of her citizens.