Ogun Revokes Licences Of 20 Private Orphanage Homes

Adijat Adeleye, the state commissioner for women’s affairs and social development, said this on Friday at a meeting with representatives of private orphanages held in the state capital of Abeokuta at the ministry’s conference room, Oke-Mosan.

The commissioner voiced her disapproval of certain private orphanage owners’ actions and declared that the state would not put up with dubious behavior involving child trafficking, unlawful adoption, or abuse of children under their care.

She emphasized that orphanages ought to function with empathy, providing vulnerable children with care and empowerment while abstaining from any actions that would jeopardize their safety.

She urged them to follow established rules, saying that the current administration is dedicated to ensuring children’s wellbeing and eliminating exploitation.

The commissioner clarified that since the primary goal of running an orphanage is to benefit society by providing humanitarian aid, anyone found to be deficient in their performance of their obligations will face legal action.

She went on to say that the ministry has improved the way it gathered data so that the quantity of kids sent to the orphanages was counted and appropriately documented.

“The state government’s actions are intended to preserve the integrity of orphanage services and safeguard vulnerable children,” the spokesperson stated.”

“Approximately twenty orphanages holding provisional licenses were impacted, though not all of them engaged in various egregious practices, such as disregarding appropriate protocols for adopting children, among other violations.”

However, we have taken away these 20 orphanages’ temporary licenses. To make sure they are all acting appropriately, we want to take our time and look into this more.

“To ensure that the standard is not compromised, we have given further instructions to those with permanent licences and instructed the affected orphanages to reapply after a month.”

Adejumoke Adewole, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, declared that the ministry would not back down from visiting all orphanage homes in the state without a schedule in order to keep an eye on the owners’ operations, assess their performance, and make sure that all rules are being followed.