Officials in Nigeria have stopped operations for a Christian orphanage and evacuated (fifteen) 15 of its children, amid ongoing investigations of a child that was allegedly stolen at Christ Embassy Church, Oregun, Lagos and found at the orphanage in Benin, the capital of Edo State.
UG Christian News learnt that the four-year-old, identified as Elo Ogidi, was said to have been stolen during a church service at Christ Embassy earlier in July and was found last Friday in God’s Own Orphanage when policemen raided the facility after a tip-off.
Nigeria’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Magdalene Ohenhen told local media that management of the centre did not follow legal processes in admitting Elo into the home.
“The procedure is that before you accept a child into an orphanage in the state, the operator of the home must inform the state government through the state’s Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development,” she remarked.
Local media sources in Nigeria also reported that during the operation, the commissioner and her team discovered that the orphanage had three other children who were not documented with the ministry as required by law.
“There are rules and regulations guiding the operations of orphanages, but the management of God’s Own Orphanage did not abide by these rules which is why we have shut it,” Ohenhen told Journalists.
Speaking out on the Christ Embassy child,Hon. Magdalene Ohenhen said, “the home did not inform us about the child who was reported missing in a church in Lagos, before accommodating the child in the home.”
She was quoted as saying that the children in the orphanage numbering about 15 are being moved to a safer centre, where they will be under the custody of the Edo State Government, pending when investigation on the activities of the home is concluded.
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
