Eight of the 16 children seized from the Du Merci orphanages in Kano and Kaduna States in 2019 were released on 13 August, after one of them suffered a mental breakdown. However, the youngest eight remain in the custody of the Kano State government pending a court ruling on their fate.

The 16 children were among 27 taken from the Du Merci Centres in Kano and Kaduna States following raids by officers from the police force and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on 25 and 31 December 2019, during which  the centres’ co-founder and their adopted father, Professor Solomon Musa Tarfa, was arrested. The Kano State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development subsequently placed them in the government-run Nasarawa Children’s Home in Kano City, where they have experienced mistreatment, ostracism and pressure to convert.

The eight older children were released after one of them, a female, began experiencing mental health challenges which the orphanage staff could no longer address. CSW was informed that she exhibited odd behaviour, began speaking to herself,  and had persistently challenged officials at the orphanage, constantly demanding to return ‘home’ and attempting to leave with her belongings. On 12 August, she had managed to leave the premises and reach the Du Merci office in Kano, but was obliged to return.

The children were released on 13 August, and joined the Tarfas in their home in Plateau State on 14 August.

However, eight of the younger children remain at the orphanage pending a review by the Attorney General of Kano State of the Kano State High Court’s consent judgement that had stipulated the formal return of all of the children to the Tarfas on or before 19 March 2025.

Among them are three who were forcibly relocated to a remote facility in Kano State, reportedly owned by the former governor of that state, in January 2021, where their names were changed and they were obliged to recite Arabic, study the Qur’an and attend a mosque.

Commenting on the release of the eight children, Professor and Mrs Tarfa said: ‘We are grateful that some of the children have now been released, and we appreciate the efforts of our lawyer in securing their freedom. However, we still have concerns about the welfare and safety of the remaining children, and we will continue to advocate for their rights and well-being.’

The founders of the Du Merci Centres had recently launched a petition calling for the return of the 16 remaining children.

In a separate incident that nonetheless echoes developments at the Du Merci Centres, officers from NAPTIP Kano State allegedly seized eight children from an orphanage in Asaba, Delta State, while its founder was in church, claiming it was an illegal institution.

The children, who reportedly are Christians from the Igbo tribe of eastern Nigeria and speak no Hausa, were also taken to Nasarawa Children’s Home in Kano City, where claims were made that they had converted to Islam. They have reportedly  had their names changed, and are obliged to attend a mosque. The Asaba orphanage’s founder reported the issue to the Commissioner of Women Affairs in Delta State, who wrote to the  NAPTIP Kano office, which is claiming not to have received the letter.

CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: ‘While we are relieved by the return of the eight children, we are alarmed that the youngest, who are in the greatest need of parental care and guidance, remain in same government orphanage where conditions precipitated the mental breakdown of their older sibling. It is deeply disturbing that the Kano State authorities continue to defy the High Court order for their release, and effectively to detain these children arbitrarily.  The absence of their elder siblings leaves them incredibly vulnerable. We urge the Kano State government to end their trauma by returning them to the Tarfas without further delay. We also call for the federal authorities to investigate the allegations surrounding the removal of eight children from the Asaba orphanage as a matter of urgency, in order to ensure their safety and wellbeing.'

Note to Editors:

1. In June 2021 the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Professor Tarfa and the 16 children had been detained arbitrarily. The Working Group called for the children’s immediate release, adding that the Tarfas and the 16 children were entitled to ‘compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.’