Case of Du Merci orphanage founder adjourned again

A High Court in Nigeria’s Kano state adjourned the trial of Professor Richard Solomon Musa Tarfa, co-founder of orphanages for vulnerable children in Kano and Kaduna states, until 23 November.

The professor is accused of forging a certificate of registration from the Kano state Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development.

The adjournment was announced after a court session on 6 October in which the professor and a witness from his bank testified about how he acquired the certificate from the office of Women’s Affairs and Social Development. A bank account statement showing a payment to a director in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs for the certificate was also presented, and the professor and his witness were cross examined by the state prosecutor. Following the cross-examinations, the case was adjourned until 23 November for the adoption of final written addresses.

Professor Tarfa was arrested on 25 December 2019 when armed police officers, accompanied by agents of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), invaded the orphanage in Kano without a search warrant and with journalists in attendance. After being obliged to accompany officers on a similar raid on the Du Merci orphanage in Kaduna state on 31 December, he was subsequently held in pre-trial detention until 10 December 2020, when he was released on bail.

On 24 June 2021 he was acquitted of abducting 19 children from their legal guardians and confining them in an unregistered orphanage by a High Court in Kano. However, theforgery charge that he is currently answering was submitted during this trial by the lawyer for the prosecution a day before he had rested his case.

The current trial opened on 27 July but was adjourned when the professor’s lawyer asked to be given time to produce witnesses to corroborate his statements.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “It is frustrating that Professor Tarfa’s trial is yet to end. However, now that evidence has been provided which illustrates the accusations of forgery are unsubstantiated, if justice prevails we anticipate his full acquittal on 23 November. CSW continues to call for the swift return of all of the children who were seized from the Du Merci orphanages in December 2019. They have spent almost two years away from the people they know as parents, and their rights to education and freedom of religion or belief are being violated comprehensively. We also urge the Kano state authorities to ensure that full reparations are made for the trauma caused to this family during this lengthy, painful and unnecessary ordeal.”