The co-founder of the Du Merci Centre Orphanage, Kano State, Prof. Richard Solomon Musa Tarfa, has urged the federal government to intervene in the continuous detention of 16 inmates of the orphanage, forcefully taken into custody by the Kano State Government.
He made the call in Abuja at a media conference.
He also lamented that the condition of the children, made up of seven males and nine females, was deteriorating by the day, due to inadequate care for them from the authorities.
He said that the 16 children, who were made up of seven males and nine females, had stopped schooling, while they have rapidly lost English communication skills, apart from that the religion of the children were been changed against their wish.
He urged the minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, to urgently intervene to ensure the timely release of the childrens.
Prof. Tarfa also urged relevant authorities in Kano to expedite actions to ensure the children are released before May 29, when the present administration is expected elapse, and hand over to a new administration especially now that the charges against him have been quashed.
According to him, 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 judgment of superior court, which exonerated him.
“Initially, I and my wife were arrested, under the pretext that we were operating illegal orphanage. Du 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,” Tarfa said.
He explained that himself and his wife opened the Du Merci Centre in 1996 to care for abandoned children in the Christian District of Sabon Gari of the state and that 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.
He said, “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.”
