The Lagos State government, yesterday, shut down an illegal orphanage home and rescued 19 children at Ikotun, Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area, LCDA.
This came 21 days after the state government shut an illegal orphanage at Alagbado in Agbado-Okeodo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, and rescued five children from the home.
Vanguard gathered that the orphanage, Bethlehem Charity and Orphanage Centre located at 9, Andre Close, Abaranje, Ikotun has been in operation since 2002, before it was shutdown in the early hours of yesterday, after the state government officials received a tip-off.
Sources said officials of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, who were accompanied by policemen, stormed the home, rescued 19 children and shut down the home.
Vanguard learnt that the children’s ages, which ranged between two months and 15 years, were reportedly not attending any school but being taught at the centre according to reports by Mr. Musbau Abdullahi, a Director in the office of Social Welfare, Ministry of Youth and Social Development.
Mrs. Taiwo Olowoyeye, the proprietor of the orphanage, said her orphanage was duly registered with the government, but did not show a certificate to authenticate it.
According to Olowoyeye, she had never given out any of the children at the orphanage for adoption for once, saying that she normally gives the children the needed education and forwarded report to the state government.
Orphanage never registered – Govt
Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth and Social Development, Dr. Dolapo Badru, said the orphanage was never registered, saying there was no way the government would have shut down the orphanage if it had been registered.
Badru explained: “She has a probation registration from the state government to operate a charity home in 2003 and that probation has elapsed. She was given a licence to operate an orphanage. She sought registration last year and our men visited the place and she was given three months to put things in place or face sanction.
“When she has operated an orphanage for about 10 years, we gave her condition to register. She was given every opportunity to meet up and she did not. We wrote to her and she did not meet up.
“Government did not want cases of baby factories in Lagos like in some states, which was why government had been so critical in ensuring that all orphanages operating in the state were duly registered.”
The special adviser said government would carry out a thorough investigation on the matter, saying that government would prosecute the owner of the orphanage for allegedly operating an illegal home.
Badru added that the 19 children would be kept in government custody and taken proper care of.
