hundreds of Nigerian teenagers are illegally crossed through our porous borders to engage in modern slavery in other countries while NAPTIP officials are busy witch-hunting operators of orphanages. It shows the level of decay in the system.'Another victim, Ifeoma Okolo, the proprietor of the Divine Mercy Motherless Babies Home, also in Obosi, narrated how officials from Anambra state Ministry of Women Affairs stormed her home and took away the inmates and some of the staff.Narrating her ordeal on her hospital bed, Okolo, disclosed that her problem began after she refused to 'settle' one of the officials of the ministry who insisted onbeing given a substantial amount of money monthly or be allowed to take some children monthly for his private purposes. She also added that the officer in question had invaded the home some time last year and allegedly took away two children.Okolo said that he vowed that he would never live and see her motherless babies home progress unless she agreed to give him returns or give him children to sell but she refused. I know that he is selling children and the Social Welfare Department is aware of this. I can prove this anywhere even if he wants us to go to any level, I will prove it,' she said.On the allegation that she sold one miracle baby for N400, 000, Okolo said it was a cooked up story and a ploy to bring her name to disrepute and paint the orphanage in bad light to pave way for their plan to shut down the home.'They said I sold Miracle for N400, 000 but let me ask you, how can one sell her own son' Miracle is my only surviving child after I gave birth to three sets of twins, so you can see. He is my own son, no sane person will sell her only son for money after giving birth to three sets of twins, all boys, five of them died and Miracle survived, which was why I gave him the name, Miracle' she said.Meanwhile when contacted, the Director for Child Development, Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mr. Emeka Ejide, denied the allegations, saying that the Ministry raided the home because of its illegal activities.Mr. Ejide also said that he did not take the two children as alleged by Mrs. Okolo, stressing that the ministry was in custody of all the children recovered from illegalorphanage homes across the state.'I am happy that it is coming from the press, incidentally, there is no home with the name Divine Mercy Motherless Babies Home. What the woman had was a slaughter house, the detectives from Nigeria Police went there and rescued the children hidden under a bed in a warehouse and I can tell you that the children are in the custody of the ministry.'Mr. Ejide also noted that the allegation was aimed at tarnishing the image of the Ministry by those he described as illegal owners of orphanage homes in the state, adding that, it was simply blackmail which he said was targeted at undermining the resolve of the ministry to rid the state of illegal operators of motherless babies homes.'It is just a simple blackmail. But we shall not succumb to it because the homes we raided are all illegal homes and the woman who was alleging that we took two children away, I have never met her in person but all I can tell you is that the children rescued from homes like hers are in the custody of the ministry,' Ejide said.When contacted, an official of NAPTIP, who did not want his name in print, said that the raid was not ill motivated but a necessary measure to sanitise orphanages in Anambra State which he said had fallen below approved standard.When contacted, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ego Uzoezie, refused to comment on the issue.
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