The Du Merci Centre Orphanage in Kano and Kaduna states has appealed to the federal government to wade into his plight and assist him to facilitate the release of 16 children taken from his orphanage home in Kano state.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, co-founder of the home, Professor Richard Solomon Musa Tarfa, lamented his first unlawful arrest by the Kano state government in 2002, when he was charged with criminal abduction of minors and sentenced to prison.
The co-founder of the orphanage claimed that the centre was already registered and properly documented.
Tarfa stated that he was later rearrested in December 2019, faced trial until January 27, 2023 when he was acquitted of the accusation and discharged by an appeal court.
He appealed to the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, and relevant authorities in Kano to urgently intervene and expedite actions to ensure the children are released before May 29, as he has been exonerated.
He said: “Initially, my wife and I were arrested for operating an illegal orphanage. Due Merci was closed by the Kano state authorities, but we eventually proved that the centre was operating legally.
“In 2002, and following the intervention of the late emir of Kano and a legal challenge in the wake of a similar raid, a High Court ruled that the Du Merci Centre was duly registered and was conducting a legitimate endeavour. It also ordered the return of the children who had been seized. A copy of this ruling is also available easily.”
“The pressing issue now is the release of the 16 children at my centre made up of seven males and nine females, who were forcefully taken away. If their action is based on the allegation that I was operating illegally, now I have been exonerated. I want my children back. They need to be taken care of. They need to go to school.
“This has amounted to double jeopardy for the Kano state government to continue to hold on to the 16 children, against the backdrop of the judgment of a superior court, which exonerated me.”
