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From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
A distressed mother, Mrs. Stella Taylor (nee Osakwe), has raised alarm over the continued detention of her two adopted children at the Benin zonal command of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The minor detainees, four-year old Master Divine William Ikechukwu Taylor and five-month old Sherlyn Nwamaka Taylor, were taken away in September, 2023, when operatives of the anti-trafficking agency raided Mrs. Taylor’s private home in Asaba.
The agency had acted on the strength of a joint petition by Mrs. Taylor’s elderly mother, Ifeoma and younger sibling, Valentina, alleging that she was into child trafficking.
But Mrs. Taylor, in a petition to the Director General of NAPTIP, debunked the trafficking allegation, accusing the Benin zonal command of the agency of compromising to continue to detain the kids.
The United States of America-based nurse alleged that her mother and youngest sibling were out to dispossess her of her property, adding that they had allegedly conspired to also snatch her earlier adopted child, Stella Star Uzomeyea Osakwe which they changed to Nene Star Osakwe in the process of adoption.
According to her, she discovered the fraud in the adoption process when she returned to Nigeria in October 2022, adding that the child was adopted in her youngest sibling’s name despite her bearing the cost.
“I never for one day did anything to forcefully remove the said adopted child from my mother’s custody or did anything in the nature of trafficking the said child. My mother and my youngest sibling are still holding my said adopted child hostage,” she said.
Taylor stated that, because of that experience, she decided, on her own, to adopt Ikechukwu and Nwamaka, through the normal process of adoption, adding that, still, her mother and younger sister would not let her be.
She said her adopted son, Ikechukwu, a pupil of Patricia Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, had missed academic activities because of his detention since September 22, 2023.
Taylor contended that the action of the zonal command brought NAPTIP into public ridicule.
She pleaded with NAPTIP Director General to immediately conduct an enquiry into the unlawful acts of the Benin zonal command with a view to prosecuting all those involved for abuse of office and corrupt practices, promising to discontinue a suit against NAPTIP if the adopted children were released.
