Orphanage to FG: Put end to ‘evil babies’, killing

By Donald Iorchir

A non-governmental organisation, Divine Inheritance Home, Kiyi, Kuje, Abuja, says it has received increased cases of rejected twins in communities within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in recent times.
Management of the home has therefore appealed to Nigerians to show concern for such babies, mostly attached with myths and misconceptions in their birth.
Founder of the home, Dr Chinwe Steven, told Blueprint when Latiwa Development Foundation, also a non-governmental organisation, inaugurated the girls’ empowerment programme in Kuje recently, lamenting that some communities in the area still engaged in viewing twins and triplets as evil babies, believing that they should be thrown out of the communities or killed to avoid the wrath of the gods.
She, however, commended the efforts of missionaries whom she said checked this belief drastically in Nigeria, wondering that the belief is still being upheld in some parts of the country including Abuja.
“The children we have here are not complete orphans; some have one parent and others both parents. We are saving twins in Bassa Komo community in Abuja- FCT, where they believe twins are not human beings.
“They believe they are evil and gods; and immediately their mothers give birth to them, they stop breastfeeding them, resulting in the deaths of some of them,” she disclosed.
She said the people still believed the killing of such babies, including the albinos, will bring good harvest to their farm produce.
According to her, “the home is trying to orient the people in the communities, especially their mothers that the children are gifts from God and not gods.”
She said that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should also create awareness and enlighten those in Bassa Komo, Gbagyi Yama and Ganagana communities of the FCT, Abuja on the development.
Earlier, Founder of Latiwa Development Foundation, Latty Allara, said they were embarking on training of the children in various fields to make them useful.
She said that the foundation was focusing on improving the lives of orphans, physically challenges and the less fortunate in the society, providing access to education, healthcare and rehabilitation, among others.
Allara said as part of the foundation’s contribution to the society, it would build accommodation for the nannies in Divine Inheritance Home, renovate the building and train the children in fashion design.

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