25 of 27 Children Rescued from Nigeria Illegal Orphanage Saint Stephen Charity Foundation UPDATED

By on 8-23-2013 in Abuse in Orphanages, Nigeria, Rose Nwachukwu, Saint Stephen Charity Foundation, Trafficking

25 of 27 Children Rescued from Nigeria Illegal Orphanage Saint Stephen Charity Foundation UPDATED

The whereabouts of the other two children is currently unknown. Mrs. Rose Nwachukwu has brazenly been operating this illegal orphanage for 18 years.

This orphanage has a Facebook page that is fairly inactive . See here. They are currently featured on Selfless4Africa website where you can still donate through Paypal! See here. Selfless4Africa claims the orphanage held ” 30 children between the ages of 3 months to 12 years old.”

“Officials of the Lagos State Government have rescued no less than 25 children from an alleged child-trafficker, Rosemary Nwachukwu, who operates an illegal orphanage home, Saint Stephen Charity Foundation, located at Egbeda area of Lagos State.

It was learnt that that the rescue of the children and arrest of the suspect was made by the officials of the Office of Youth and Social Department, led by the director, child development, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, and officers from the Office of the Public Defender, OPD, backed up by police officers.

According to the director, OPD, Omotola Rotimi , she said during investigation, it was discovered that the suspect was planning to transport about 27 children from the orphanage, located at  No 30/32 Abiodun Adebanbo Street, Egbeda, Lagos.

Leadership reports:

Nwachukwu, LEADERSHIP understands, had allegedly defrauded members of the public, by using the children to raise money, through adoption. At the time of the raid, only 25 children were rescued. The whereabouts of the other two are yet unascertained.

Corroborating the claims, the Fadairo, said the illegal business was being conducted in an apartment within the residential building, and that upon investigation, it was discovered Nwachukwu had been engaging in various anti-child development activities, such as illegal adoption, trafficking and others acts which were perpetrated for selfish reasons.

“Investigation also shows that there are no records about any of the children – no evidence of how she came to be in possession of the children and no form of police or security report,” Fadairo said.

Fadairo further warned members of the public to be vigilant and report cases of child trafficking to the media or the government, so as to prevent children from being used by similar organisations for selfish reasons.

Fadairo also warned that people and organisations operating unapproved or illegal orphanages would be arrested and prosecuted according to the law.

Fielding questions from newsmen, the suspect Nwachukwu confessed that she had been running the illegal orphanage for the past 18 years, and that it was purely on charity basis. She denied trafficking any of the children or using them for any purpose besides “adoption”.”

 

Police in Lagos rescue 25 children from trafficker

[YNaija 8/23/13]

“The Office of the Public Defendant (OPD) made this announcement in Lagos through a press statement.

The OPD revealed that the children whose ages range between three months and 12 years were found in the illegal home located at 30/32 Abiodun Adebanbo Street, Egbeda, Lagos and is run by a woman identified as Mrs Rosemary Nwachukwu.

According to the statement, a combined team of the Director of Child Development, Mrs Alaba Fadairo and officers from OPD clamped down on the home in response to the alert by a newspaper of Saturday, August 17, 2013.

The newspaper’s report according to the OPD, drew their attention and that of the public to the illegal activities and the deteriorating condition to which the children were subjected.

The rescued children, who had since been taken to the Lagos State government welfare institution for proper care and protection, are made up of three infants, aged three to six months and 22 other children.”

Child trafficking: Lagos rescues 25 children

[Nigerian Tribune 8/23/13 by Yejide Gbenga-ogundare-Lagos]

 

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:As with any possible fraud case, many entities and donors who have only been genuine with their support and  that have had any level of relationship with the alleged fraudster would be affected. They are victims as well as any children affected. In this case, there must be a long trail of those affected as this orphanage was operating for 18 years. At the time of posting, we could only find one entity that was currently mentioning Saint Stephen.

Selfless4Africa would like to clarify their relationship to Saint Stephen Charity Foundation.   They have sent me the following information that I would like to share with you:

“A review of our financials, bank balance, membership, and programs which we go to great lengths to make available on our website (www.selfless4africa.org) will show that we are completely independent, and will also show the veracity of the following facts:

In 2010, a group of us, mostly students at the time, residents in the United States, came together, and rallied amongst ourselves for a common cause: “our belief that even as poor students, we can play a role in making the African Continent, and the world at large better off.” Thus, Selfless 4 Africa was founded.
Since then, we have worked as volunteers devoting our time, and financial resources toward achieving this objective. Even as of today, our financial contributions account for an estimated 35% of our total revenue.
From the time of inception until today, thanks to the contributions of our members, friends, and families, we have been able to grant scholarships to:
·         5 students in Zambia
·         10 students in Cameroon
·         17 Students in Anambra State, Nigeria
·         7 Students in Ibadan, Nigeria, and
·         10 Students in Edo State, Nigeria
We are currently working on selecting beneficiaries for the 2013/2014 academic year in a select number of these locations.
Our two pronged mission also aims to inspire younger folks like us to a play a role in uplifting the underprivileged, and making our home continent better. Hence, we crafted a competition dedicated towards encouraging folks to take up on projects that will aid the poor in Africa. This year, after a consideration of several entries, our members voted to award the $1,000 pioneers grant to Zetu Micro franchise, in support of the solar energy initiative of this Burundi Organization.
Through our Hero’s program, we also awarded a $250 award to a Nigerian Lady who has an organization named Unveiling for Africa to encourage her and others like her to constantly strive towards helping others.
As a team, our growing membership has participated in bettering our home state of Georgia, USA through several volunteering activities.
As we worked on our 2013 plans, it dawned on us that as our membership grew, we needed to stem the increasing costs of maintaining partners across the continent that aided the implementation of our scholarship schemes. We sought to consolidate our efforts and reduce these implementation costs by utilizing existing organizations who already had overhead costs.
After a very thorough due diligence, we selected to support an American-run orphanage, Agape Children’s Home in Ghana. This year, we have provided them with funds to refurbish the furniture used by the students. We are currently working with them to establish a computer Lab and Library for these children.
For the orphanage in Nigeria, We went through a more rigorous due diligence. We examined their online trails, Facebook accounts, website, reviewed visits by several organizations in Nigeria to the children’s home. We had an international conference call / interview with Mrs. Rose Nwachukwu who ran the home. Before we signed off, we ensured that two of our members visited the purported Children’s home from the United States; they talked to the children, interviewed the owner, and documented the outtakes of their meeting. 
It was after this process that we agreed in March of 2013 to utilize the resources provided by our membership and supporters to benefit the children in this home.
We agreed to provide them a power generator, so that the children could do their homework, and not be subjected to vices at night or the dangers of studying with candle lights. As in Ghana, we planned on utilizing this generator to power the computers, and the library which we were working on establishing for these children until we became aware of these serious allegations.
As previously stated, S4A membership comprises of younger individuals who have worked tirelessly and dedicated their meagre resources toward alleviating the plights of underprivileged children all over Africa.
If the allegations against Mrs. Rose Nwachukwu are proven to be true, then we are comparable to other organizations and individuals who have donated and supported the home in any capacity. Like these individuals and organizations, our membership and supporters will be victims of this purported scam, and we will reserve the rights to pursue legal actions to recoup the power generator provided to the home, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.
Without equivocation, we must point out that our sole aim was to better the life of the children in the purported orphanage.
As we hope that the arms of the law plays its rightful role in this issue, and these children are safe, and their future secured, we are also concerned that the longer your article stays online, the more deleterious it is to our name and efforts.“

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