25 Children Rescued From Alleged Child Trafficker In Lagos

 

Lagos State government has shut down an orphanage home in Egbeda, Alimosho Local Government Area of the state, after eighteen years of illegal operation. Twenty-five children were rescued from the facility. According to the Office of the Public Defender, OPD, an arm of the state Ministry of Justice, which carried out the rescue mission from the purported ‘Home for Orphans and Less Privileged’, apart from keeping the children illegally, the venue was also used for child trafficking. Children whose ages range between three months and 12 years were found in the illegal home located at 30/32, Abiodun Adebanbo Street, Egbeda, Lagos allegedly run by one Mrs. Rosemary Nwachukwu, a statement from the OPD said. The OPD disclosed that a combined team of Director of Child Development in the state Ministry of Youths and Social Development, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo and officers from OPD clamped down on the home following a tip off, from which the alleged illegal activities of the home and the deteriorating condition to which the children were subjected to were exposed. The rescued children had since been taken to the Lagos State Government welfare institution for proper care and protection.

“Upon investigations, it was discovered that Mrs. Nwachukwu trafficked 27 children kept in a room, using them to raise money and defraud innocent members of the public who may need assistance in child adoption. Twenty five children were rescued and the whereabouts of the remaining two children remain unknown. “Investigation also shows that there were no record on each of the children and no evidence of how the children got to her and no form of police or security report,” the OPD said. Mrs Fadairo who led the operation therefore urged members of the public to be vigilant and report such cases to the media or government in order not to fall into the hands of similar organisations. She said people/organisations that operate unapproved or illegal orphanages would be arrested and prosecuted.

While being interviewed by the officials, the suspect, Mrs. Nwachukwu, said she had been running the home for the past 18 years purely on charity. Residents and landlord associations in the community however denied knowledge of such home.