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The Child Protection Network (CPN) has called for the best interests of children to remain the guiding principle in adoption and custody disputes, warning that prolonged legal battles between adults must not come at the expense of children’s welfare.
CPN National Coordinator Olakunle Sanni said adoption procedures must be strictly followed to ensure that children are placed with families who are able and willing to provide continuous care and a stable home.
“Our concern is the child,” Sanni said at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
“The legal battle is between adults; the child must not become the battlefield.”
The organisation said adoption must be conducted in accordance with relevant child-protection laws and established procedures, particularly where prospective adoptive parents live outside Nigeria.
According to CPN, authorities must ensure that prospective adoptive parents meet all legal requirements, including those relating to residence, suitability and the provision of appropriate care before and after an adoption is completed.
The organisation also raised concerns about situations in which children are adopted by families living abroad but remain in Nigeria for extended periods under the care of relatives, friends or other temporary caregivers.
CPN said such arrangements could undermine the purpose of adoption and potentially expose children to neglect, instability and emotional distress.
“Information in the public domain also reveals that children and their adopters sometimes do not live together for many years after the completion of adoption,” the organisation said.
“Such prolonged separation can be likened to child abandonment, and such definitely is not in the child’s best interest.”
The organisation urged prospective adoptive parents living abroad to ensure they are prepared and able to live with and care for children placed in their custody, rather than relying on third parties to undertake parental responsibilities on their behalf.
“If you ever have to adopt a child, you must be willing and ready to live together with the child before and after the adoption process is completed rather than procure friends or relatives to undertake an adoption by proxy,” CPN said.
CPN further urged courts, government agencies and child-protection authorities to prioritise children’s safety, stability, dignity and overall welfare when resolving adoption and custody disputes.
It said children caught in disputes should be protected from unnecessary publicity, social-media battles and other forms of exposure that could affect their emotional and psychological wellbeing.
The organisation stressed that disputes between adults should be resolved without making children the subjects of public controversy or using them as instruments in legal or personal conflicts.
Beyond adoption disputes, CPN said its Help Centre had received 36 cases of child abuse in recent months involving physical abuse, neglect, trafficking, sexual abuse and illegal adoption.
The organisation called for stronger enforcement of child-protection laws, faster investigation and prosecution of offenders, and increased medical, legal and psychosocial support for survivors.
It also urged the government to strengthen measures against child abduction and trafficking and improve access to education, healthcare and social support for vulnerable children, including street-connected and Almajiri children.
CPN said protecting children requires coordinated action by families, courts, government institutions, communities and child-protection organisations, with the best interests of the child remaining at the centre of every decision.
This version frames the story as a general CPN position on adoption and custody disputes, rather than as commentary on any particular child or family.
