By Mike Odeh James
(Kano) A long-running controversy over government handling of Christian orphans took a turn Aug. 13 for eight Christian children taken from an orphanage in Kano State in 2019. The eight were released to a Christian intermediary, ending almost six years of alleged forced conversion while in government custody
The children were among 27 seized on Christmas Day 2019 when armed security operatives, acting with officials from the Kano State government, raided Du Merci Orphanage in the city’s Nomansland area. Its founders, Professor Solomon Tarfa and his wife, Dr. Mercy Tarfa, were arrested during the raid, despite the home holding legal documentation to operate for decades.
Authorities accused the couple running the orphanage of running it illegally and transferred the children to government-run facilities. But courts later cleared Prof. Tarfa of all wrongdoing, ruling in favor of Du Merci’s legality.
While in state care, the children suffered neglect, were given Muslim names, and were pressured to recite Islamic prayers and attend mosque services, according to International human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe speaking to TruthNigeria. Some reportedly endured illness without adequate medical care including a horrific fire incident, according to Christianity Today. Ogebe has said in videotaped interviews that the Kano administrator of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and Disabled made every effort to prevent the transfer of all 16 children, including by bribing the older children with cell phones in order to stay in their care.
A high Kano State official has sided with the Tarfas’ against the decision of the Ministry of Women and Children.
Kano Health Commissioner Abubakar Labaran has acknowledged that malnutrition is widespread in state administered institutions, and the Du Merci Orphanage is doing a good job of feeding the children in its care.
“As we told the Kano ministry of women’s affairs in our two visits to the state in March, it is unreasonable to think that the state can take better care of these children than Prof Tarfa and his wife who are seasoned educators and humanitarians with three decades of service in Kano a state infested with the most out of school children in the nation,” Labaran said. “No right thinking Nigerian believes that a government with limited resources wants to spend money on orphans that an NGO is already caring for especially against the wishes of the parents of the children who include unwed teen moms,” Labaran said in media reports.
“Kano should focus on almajiris (orphans) in need and leave the Du Merci kids to return to their loving homes,” he added.
Face of Islamization: Forced Conversion
Du Merci representatives welcomed the development but said other children remain in custody. “We are grateful that some of the children have now been released,” Solomon Tarfa texted to TruthNigeria. “However, we still have concerns about the welfare and safety of the remaining children, and we will continue to advocate for their rights.”
The Kano State Ministry of Women Affairs, Children and Disabled has confirmed the release of eight children from Nasarawa Children’s Home to Barrister Gideon Uzu, representing Du Merci Children’s Home. The children — Debora, Divine, Peace, Esther, Moses, Paul, Elizabeth, and Destiny — were among those taken from Du Merci during the December 2019 and January 2020 raids.
However, the ministry is keeping another eight children in its custody. It says five of them remain pending a court decision on their case, while three — Martha, Mercy, and Emmanuel — have chosen to stay under ministry care until the legal process concludes.
“We welcome the release of half of the “Du Merci 16” children five months after the expiration of their court ordered return, when state officials physically threatened our lives,” Ogebe told TruthNigeria. “It is unfortunate that Kano is still holding back eight children in continuing violation,” he went on to say.
“The pretext of pending litigation is merely a ruse, and it is unheard of to set aside a consent judgment voluntarily entered into and indeed drafted by Kano state women’s affairs ministry who actually set the March date to release the kids then turned around and reneged in extreme bad faith and contempt of court,” Ogebe said to TruthNigeria.
Dr. Merci Tarfa has alleged that the Kano State Government is deliberately holding onto eight orphans in its custody to forcefully convert them to Islam.
“Seven out of the eight children still being held are minors under the age of 17,” she told TruthNigeria. “By law, such children cannot be converted to another religion without the consent of their parents,” Tarfa said.
“Government officials had paraded some of the children, coercing them to publicly declare that they had embraced Islam and no longer wished to leave,” Tarfa said, insisting that the display was stage-managed.
“The truth was exposed when the children began crying as their peers packed their belongings to leave,” she said.
Tarfa said that the actions of Kano State authorities were clear evidence that the remaining eight children were being kept back for the purpose of conversion.
Mike Odeh James is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
