by Oge Okonkwo

Officials of the Lagos State Government have rescued no less than 25 children from an alleged child-trafficker, Rosemary Nwachukwu, who operates an illegal orphanage home, Saint Stephen Charity Foundation, located at Egbeda area of Lagos State.

It was learnt that that the rescue of the children and arrest of the suspect was made by the officials of the Office of Youth and Social Department, led by the director, child development, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, and officers from the Office of the Public Defender, OPD, backed up by police officers.

According to the director, OPD, Omotola Rotimi , she said during investigation, it was discovered that the suspect was planning to transport about 27 children from the orphanage, located at  No 30/32 Abiodun Adebanbo Street, Egbeda, Lagos.

Leadership reports:

Nwachukwu, LEADERSHIP understands, had allegedly defrauded members of the public, by using the children to raise money, through adoption. At the time of the raid, only 25 children were rescued. The whereabouts of the other two are yet unascertained.

Corroborating the claims, the Fadairo, said the illegal business was being conducted in an apartment within the residential building, and that upon investigation, it was discovered Nwachukwu had been engaging in various anti-child development activities, such as illegal adoption, trafficking and others acts which were perpetrated for selfish reasons.

“Investigation also shows that there are no records about any of the children – no evidence of how she came to be in possession of the children and no form of police or security report,” Fadairo said.

Fadairo further warned members of the public to be vigilant and report cases of child trafficking to the media or the government, so as to prevent children from being used by similar organisations for selfish reasons.

Fadairo also warned that people and organisations operating unapproved or illegal orphanages would be arrested and prosecuted according to the law.

Fielding questions from newsmen, the suspect Nwachukwu confessed that she had been running the illegal orphanage for the past 18 years, and that it was purely on charity basis. She denied trafficking any of the children or using them for any purpose besides “adoption”.