By Juliana Francis
IGP, Alkali Baba
A look of despair crossed the face of Reverend Gabriel Oyediji as he said with resignation: “It is sad to note that the Nigerian child has never been so vulnerable and so insecure in the history of our great nation, Nigeria. Never before has the psyche of the Nigerian child so badly affected by insecurity and horrific scenes he sees every day.”
Oyediji is the National President of the Association of Orphanages and Homes Operators in Nigeria (ASOHON). He spoke with our reporter at his orphanage, the Compassionate Home and Orphanage, located at the Idowu-Egba area of LASU/ Road, Lagos State. The Reverend choked on emotion as he reported how the Nigerian child, especially those in orphanages, have become pawns in the hands of kidnappers and bandits, otherwise all known as “gunmen”. According to him, gunmen on January 23, abducted eight persons from Rachael Orphanage Home in Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Ferritory (FCT), Abuja.
He said that at least seven children, Elizabeth Andrew, Dayo Udeh, Jacob Ukpas, Melody Ijeh, Benard Itim, Issac Mathew and Laruba Emmanuel were abducted. The kidnappers also abducted a security guard, Joseph Mathew, who worked at the orphanage.
The gunmen were said to have invaded the orphanage around 1am and unerringly made a beeline for the particular section of the rooms, where the children were sleeping. They would later demand a N10 million ransom. The Coordinator of the Orphanage Association in Abuja, Mr. Steven Olusola, said the kidnappers were about 25 in number.
His words: “They attacked Rachel’s Home Orphanage in Abaji and took away eight children and they are asking for N10m from an orphanage. See what Nigeria has turned into? About 25 gunmen attacked the orphanage which has just one security guard. They launched the attack around 1am. I am in touch with the proprietor and we are praying for their safe release.” The FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mariam Yusuf, said: “All the persons kidnapped, including the children, all of them are eight. However, we were able to rescue one person andefforts are stillongoing to rescue the others.
As I speak, we have made heavy deployment already in place. We have also made an additional deploymenttoensure that werescue and reunite the children with their handlers.” Oyediji, who said that the government has failed the Nigerian children, said: “The evergrowing insecurity in the land, the brutish situation we have found ourselves, has exposed the child to gory pictures of death and violence across the country such that the Nigerian child, quite unfortunately, has become a major victim of the disturbing situation.
“Not only is he orphaned when his parents are kidnapped (for ransom), attacked and killed by career criminals, he has now become the primary target of these bloodbaying criminals. “When in April 2014, 276 students of Government Science Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, were kidnapped by Boko Haram, the world was horrified, and warned that it must never happen again. “Then, ithappenedagaininGovernmentScience and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State. Then, it happened again in Kankara, Katsina State, where about 800 students were abducted. “And just last week, it was the turn of Kagara in Niger State.
In all these cases, the criminals targeted students, endangering children whose only offence is to be in school to learn. And there is no assurance Kagara would be the last.” He argued that the cardinal provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, one stands out and, indeed covers the reason for the existence and functionality of government. This provision, he said, states that the primary purpose of government was the security of life and property. “Without any fear of contradiction, the welfare, development and protection of the Nigerian child is pivotal to this all-important provision,” stated Oyediji.
He further explained: “The ever-growing insecurity in the land, the brutish situation we have found ourselves, has exposed the child to gory pictures of death and violence across the country such that the Nigerian child, quite unfortunately, has become a major victim of the disturbing situation.” The Reverend appealled to President Muhammadu Buhari, the state governors, as well as all the security agencies in the country to wake up and save Nigerian children, stressing that they were Nigeria’s future and must be protected by all means, at all times and shouldn’t be allowed to grow in an atmosphere of fear.
He also mentioned: “As if the aforementioned were not terrible enough, kidnappers have now included orphanages and homes in their checklist of terror. They now raid orphanages and abduct children for ransom. This is a new cancer, a horrible phenomenon threatening the future of Nigerian orphans.
“If orphanages are now being targeted and, therefore, made unsafe, then where else is safe? This is a new cancer traumatizing children. It needs an urgent cure before it begins to spread like wild fire. We call on the relevant authorities to help protect our orphanages and homes.”
He said that aside from insecurity, which, at the moment, was the number one problem plaguing orphanages and homes in Nigeria, the poor attention being paid to social services in the country was another mountain which operators face, and must be subdued. According to a 2008 UNICEF report, there were an estimated 17.5 million orphans in Nigeria and 95 percent of orphans in the country live in privately- run homes. Yet, none of the orphanages has any regular source of funding, argued.
“They don’t have any solid means of funding to engage professional security staff or acquire CCTV to protect the children. Where CCTV is available, there is no electricity to power it,” said Oyediji. He explained that many people wishing to adopt children from homes and orphanages in Nigeria get easily frustrated by the legal hurdles and the cumbersome process they have to scale before achieving their dream. This, said, Oyediji, has stoked serious crisis of adoptable children and prompted incidents of child-theft in orphanages. He recalled: “For instance, two babies were stolen from the Jehovah Jireh Orphanage, Orlu in Imo State, in 2019. In 2020, another orphanage was robbed in Ibadan, Oyo State.
When the robbers couldn’t get the age grade of the children they wanted, they went on rampage, destroying things, attacking staff members. “Recently, this year, 2021, another orphanage, Rachael Home and Orphanage, was raided at gunpoint and at midnight, and seven children kidnapped.
“In some of these cases, it was so easy for the robbers and kidnappers to raid the referenced facilities because most orphanages lack the adequate funding to provide well-fortified structures for the safety of the children, and prevent crime. “The menace of kidnappers is a pointer to the new trend in crime and criminality threatening the survival of children in Nigeria. “The disturbing situation is sending fearful signals to homes across the country as they are porous and vulnerable to attack.
“Unfortunately, and like I said, no good attention has been paid to orphanages in Nigeria, leaving operators to struggle, and most times go cap in hand to pay salaries, provide healthcare, pay school fees, maintain their facilities, among others.” He stated that the security challenges facing orphanages and homes in our country are multi-dimensional, which include health, food and education. He stated that as at this moment, there was no concerted effort by government and its relevant arms to give serious attention to preventing COVID-19 infections among the children in Nigerian orphanages and homes.
“There is no attempt for free in-situ COVID- 19 test in the homes. No testing facility has been established in any of our homes across the nation. If we must have a healthy nation, government must ensure easy and free access to healthcare services for orphans and vulnerable children. Nigeria must understand that a healthy nation is indeed a strong nation.”
According to UNICEF, since 2013, more than 1,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, including 276 girls taken from their secondary school in the town of Chibok in 2014. Four years on from that tragic incident, more than 100 of the ‘Chibok girls’ have yet to be returned to their families and the UN children’s agency continues to call for their release. While three years and five weeks since her abduction from her school in Dapchi, Yobe State, a United States-based group, US-Nigeria Law Group, has lamented the plight of the abandoned Dapchi “heroine Christian” schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, with reports she has given birth to a second child in captivity. It would be recalled that Leah, still held in captivity, was forced to accept Islam before being married off to a top Boko Haram commander after she refused to renounce her Christian faith.
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