Fides Media Living the Faith
– States Legal Way to Adopt Babies in Anambra
By Ikeugonna Eleke
The Commissioner for Women’s Affairs, and Children’s Welfare, Hon Ifeyinwa Obinabo, has lamented the rising cases of rape, illegal child adoption, prostitution and trafficking in Anambra State, stating Soludo’s Government’s readiness to put an end to all of them.
Obinabo who spoke to Fides in an interview also stated the only legal way to adopt babies in Anambra State. This is coming on the backdrop of many allegations of illegal adoption of babies and involvement in such practices by some orphanage homes.
She said: ‘The support Mr Governor gives to this ministry has made our job very easy. Most of this crime syndicates that we burst are very connected people, and once we go after them, they try to pull strings that will give them freedom, but once we notice something like this, we just call Mr Governor, who is ever ready to listen to us.
“When you see our governor, you will think he is not someone who pays attention to details, but he is. Mr Governor is that kind of person who will send you on errand, and he will still be there to guide you through the process of how to solve the task he has given to you. He does not also believe in failure.
‘So, I can tell you that the Soludo Administration is determined to stamp out some of these ills in our society, and we are committed to doing that, especially in line with the mandate given to us by Mr Governor.’
Speaking on the procedure of adopting a baby legally in Anambra, Obinabo said: “First is that you must come to this ministry and apply that you want to adopt a child. When I get the application, I will now minute on it to head of Child Unit. From there, we now start documentation when we see a child for you.
“Also, it is only here in this office, that anyone is permitted to be handed over children that are legally adopted. The homes from where the children are to be adopted will bring them here after proper documentation. After that, we will send our officials for inspection. We must go to the home of the person where the child would be taken to, so that we make sure that the place is conducive, and also ensure that the reasons you gave for wanting to adopt a child is true. Those are the investigations we do.”
On the cost, she said: “Like I keep saying, we follow a lot of procedures before we can give out any child for adoption in Anambra.
“We do a lot of documentation, we also go to court, we go for investigation and things like that. But I won’t tell you that it is this amount or that amount. Some of this things vary. Like sometimes, we see abandoned children, for children like that, it will take time for them to be due for adoption.
“You must give at least six months, and there must be clear evidence that you have made extensive announcements, including reporting to the police, for the public to know that the child was abandoned. The announcement is to alert the people and also for the mother to come if she is interested. You must go through all these procedures and also do the paper work.
‘So, what I can say to you on that is that we do not charge. From what I heard before Mr Governor came on board, people were collecting N1.5million, N2.5million for adoption. They collect N1.5million for female children and N2.5million for male children. That, as far as we know, is selling of children and Mr Governor will not let that happen under his watch.’