The Anambra State Government has shut down the Arrows of God Community Children’s Home in the Oyi Local Government Area after an investigation revealed that the orphanage home engaged in unlawful adoption and child trafficking.

The State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, announced the closure of the orphanage after a documentary report by a journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism.

Obinabo, in the company of security personnel, stormed the orphanage and sealed it off. She however denied her Ministry’s involvement in the unlawful child adoption drama, and explained that the founder of the orphanage home, Rev. D.C. Ogo, was invited to her office for questioning but he never showed up.

It was gathered that the owner and the staff members of the orphanage had fled and are still at large, while some children, numbering up to 20, including a newborn baby, were retrieved from the orphanage home.

The statistics of children found at the orphanage include ten boys, nine girls, and a newborn baby, all aged between 1 and 17.

The Commissioner further issued a warning to other orphanage home operators engaging in unlawful adoption in Anambra State to desist as the state government is taking all necessary steps to crack down on operators who do not adhere to the state’s prescribed and standard operational norms and procedures.

She also advised couples planning to adopt children in the state to exercise greater caution and ensure they carefully follow the normal procedure, as there is no shortcut to child adoption in the state as ignorance is also not an excuse.

You can watch the full investigative documentary work of Fisayo Soyombo in the YouTube video below.