From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The co-founder of the Du Merci Orphanage in Kano and Kaduna States, Prof Solomon Musa Tarfa, has called on the federal government to facilitate the release of 16 children taken from his orphanage home in Kano State.
Tarfa, who addressed newsmen recently in Abuja, said he was first arrested by the Kano State government in 2002, charged with criminal abduction of minors and sentenced to prison even though the centre was already registered and properly documented.
He stated that he was later arrested in December 2019, and faced trial until January 27, 2023, when he was acquitted of the accusation and discharged by an appeal court.
The professor appealed to the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen and relevant authorities in Kano to urgently intervene and expedite actions to ensure the children are released before May 29, as he has been exonerated.
He said: “Initially, my wife and I were arrested for operating an illegal orphanage. Due Merci was closed by the Kano State authorities, we eventually proved that the Centre was operating legally.
“In 2002, following the intervention of the late Emir of Kano and a legal challenge in the wake of a similar raid, a High Court ruled that the Du Merci Centre was duly registered and was conducting a legitimate endeavour. It also ordered the return of the children who had been seized. A copy of this ruling is also available easily.
“The pressing issue now is the release of the 16 children at my Centre made up of seven males and nine females, who were forcefully taken away.
“If their action is based on the allegation that I was operating illegally, now I have been exonerated. I want my children back. They need to be taken care of. They need to go to school.
“This has amounted to double jeopardy for the Kano State government to continue to hold on to the 16 children, against the backdrop of the judgment of a superior court, which exonerated me.
Narrating how the orphanage started, Professor Tarfa stated that he and his wife established the Du Merci Centre in 1996 to care for abandoned children in the Christian in Kano and Kaduna States.
He noted that the centre provides accommodation for the children, caters for their needs until they are able to live successful independent lives.
He added that the orphanage also accommodates young women who are pregnant out of wedlock, until they give birth, reconciling them whenever possible with parents who had rejected them due to social stigma.
Stating how he got the children into the orphanage, Tarfa said the majority of the children were permanently displaced orphans, babies abandoned after birth on the streets, refuse dumps, and similar odd places.
“They were rescued by good Samaritans, including even the police personnel of Nomansland Police Station and were brought to Assumpta clinic for resuscitation and initial review and treatment or to the centre. There were also children whose mothers had died at childbirth and were temporarily kept at the home pending when adequate arrangements were made for their definitive care. A few parents found it a safe and affordable daycare place to keep their children while they were at work,” Tarfa noted.