Nigerian government delays release of illegally detained children

 

As last Wednesday approached, Professor Solomon Tarfa eagerly anticipated the release of 16 children taken five years ago from Du Merci orphanage, which he and his wife run. Nigerian authorities have illegally detained the children since they were removed from the orphanage.

Despite a court settlement mandating the Kano State Ministry of Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs to release the children on March 19, Tarfa remains empty-handed following what seems to be another government stall tactic.

The Commissioner for Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs announced on March 20 that the children’s release will be postponed “until the Attorney General of Kano State returns from Mecca in two weeks.” Tarfa has been in a legal battle with government officials since the children were removed from the couple’s orphanage in December 2019.

This latest setback is one of many Tarfa has faced in his legal battle. It took a miracle for this agreement to have been made in court. A judge from the Kano State High Court 12 initially said he had “too many cases to deal with that are more important,” refusing to grant Tarfa and the children a trial. He urged the parties to settle outside of court, issuing a deadline of June 4, 2024, to “get back to him.”

Professor Tarfa and his wife, Mercy, founded Du Merci Orphanage in 1996. For more than two decades, the couple rescued abandoned children with the mission “to glorify God by ministering to orphans and vulnerable children by meeting their mental, physical, spiritual, and social needs.”

Nigerian officials raided the Christian orphanage on Christmas Day in 2019. Police officers and authorities from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) confiscated 29 children — 13 were later returned — and moved them to government-run facilities. Professor Tarfa was detained and imprisoned on alleged charges of kidnapping and abduction.

While in government custody, authorities split the children up, including siblings, and forced them to recite Arabic, study Islam, and attend prayers in a mosque. Since the children had Christian names, authorities gave them Muslim names.

In June 2021, Tarfa went before the Kano High Court and was acquitted of his kidnapping and abduction charges. However, a day before the trial was set to end, the prosecution presented forgery charges in connection with Du Merci’s official registration document.

Although Tarfa received the registration document from the government, the prosecution accused his document of being fake as it did not have a proper serial number. Professor Tarfa was found guilty and remained in prison.

In April 2022, Tarfa appealed the forged document ruling, and almost a year later, the Court of Appeals acquitted Tarfa of all charges.

Today, Tarfa wants the Nigerian government to be held accountable and return the remaining children. He has asked Kano state to pay reparations for his illegal imprisonment, false accusations, and the illegal confiscation of his children.

The reparations would also cover the costs of rebuilding Du Merci Orphanage, which was demolished by the government. They also would cover the cost of rent for Professor Tarfa, his wife, and the released children, who had to relocate to an apartment.  The government has refused to pay Tarfa for its wrongdoings, escalating the situation before the High Court 12 in Kano state.

International Christian Concern (ICC) calls for the remaining children wrongly detained by the Nigerian government to be released and continues to pray for them. We pray that Nigerian authorities will recognize their wrongdoings, release the children, and pay Tarfa and his wife the reparations they deserve.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.