Founder of the Du Merci Centre Orphanage, Kano, Professor Richard Solomon Musa Tarfa, has called on the federal government to intervene and ensure that 16 children taken by the Kano State government from his orphanage are released.
Tarfa said the children have lost touch with school while their faith had been changed without their will.
Specifically, Tarfa called on the minister of women affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, to intervene urgently to ensure the timely release of the children.
Tarfa stated this during a press conference in Abuja at the weekend.
He said the condition of the children was deteriorating by the day, due to inadequate care from the authorities.
He said the children, who were made up of seven males and nine females, had stopped schooling, while they had rapidly lost English communication skills.
He also said the religion of the children had been changed against their wish.
Tarfa also called on relevant authorities in Kano to expedite actions to ensure the children are released before May 29, when the administration is expected to elapse, especially now that the charges against him have been quashed.
He said himself and wife have suffered untold persecution since their ordeal started in 2002, when he was first arrested, charged with criminal abduction of minors and sentenced to prison before he was later vindicated by a superior court.
Tarfa, who was released from prison in January, 2023, said, it amounted to double jeopardy for the Kano State government to continue to hold on to the 16 children, against the backdrop of the judgement of superior court, which exonerated him.
“Initially, my wife and I were arrested, under the pretext that we were operating an illegal orphanage. Due Merci was forcibly closed by the Kano State authorities. When we eventually proved that the Centre was operating legally, they changed the charges to forceful abduction of minors. They have done everything to rope me but because I did nothing wrong, I have continued to triumph.
“In 2002, and 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 that 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,” he said.
Tarfa and his wife opened the Du Merci Centre in 1996 to care for abandoned children in the Christian District of Sabon Gari. The centre provides accommodation for these children, who view them as parents and are educated and cared for until they are able to live successful independent lives. It 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.
