The Anambra State government has clamped down on an orphanage known as Arrows of God Community Children’s Home in the Oyi Local Government Area and closed it permanently following claims of unlawful adoption and child trafficking.
The Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, announced the closure of the orphanage after a documentary report by a journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism.
Obinabo, in the company of security personnel, stormed the orphanage and sealed it off on Wednesday.
It was gathered that the owner and the staff members of the orphanage had fled and are still at large, while some children, numbering up to 20, including a newborn baby, were retrieved from the orphanage home.
The children found at the orphanage include ten boys, nine girls, and a newborn baby, all aged between 1 and 17 years.
The commissioner, who denied her ministry’s involvement in the illicit child adoption racket, also explained that the founder of the orphanage home, Rev. D.C. Ogo, was invited to her office in Awka for questioning but he never showed up.
Obinabo said: “The ministry is not aware of any adoption with the Arrow of God Orphanage Home, and the adoption process never went through the ministry.
“There are irregularities in the said adoption which include the absence of three signatories such as that of the commissioner, the Head of Children’s Unit and that of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.
“Since I assumed office, all application for court order of adoption or care goes through the designated Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate Court in Awka as against the Nnewi Court order presented in the documentary. This is so because the fundamental goal is to preserve the best interest of the child.”
The commissioner further issued a warning to other orphanage home operators engaging in unlawful adoption in Anambra State to desist, as the government is taking necessary steps to crack down on operators who fail to adhere to prescribed and standard operational norms and procedures.
Obinabo also raised the alarm that many people are disguising and parading themselves as staff of the Ministry to help process illegal adoption or sale of children.
She also advised couples planning to adopt children in the state to exercise greater caution and ensure they carefully follow the normal procedure, as there is no shortcut to child adoption in the State, as ignorance is also not an excuse.