Court orders remand in custody of 83-year-old Arrows of God Orphanage founder

Court orders remand in custody of 83-year-old Arrows of God Orphanage founder

Deborah Ogo, the founder of Arrows of God Orphanage Home, has been remanded in prison, according to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

 Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, ordered the 83-year-old Ogo to be remanded in the Onitsha Correctional Facility until she would perfect her bail condition of N1.3 million and two sureties in like sum.

Following an undercover investigation by ‘Fisayo Soyombo, FIJ’s founder and editor-in-chief, which uncovered how the orphanage, one of Nigeria’s biggest, had been selling babies under the table, NAPTIP arrested Ogo and sealed the orphanage’s offices in Lagos and Anambra State. The report was published in August 2023.

Specifically, Soyombo bought a baby from Ogo for N2 million in July 2023, after 19 months of intense work to crack the investigation. Notably, Ogo is an ordained minister, former principal of the Nigerian Army School of Nursing and Midwifery, former chief matron and retired colonel.

NAPTIP’S FULL STATEMENT

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arraigned Clara Chinwe Deborah Ogo, an 83-year-old woman and founder of the renowned Arrow of God Orphanage in Anambra State. The arraignment took place at the Federal High Court, Awka Judicial Division, presided over by Hon. Justice Hauwa Yilwa, for alleged buying and selling of human beings for any purpose.

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Clara Ogo, a retired Nigerian Army Lt. Col, and a nurse, owns the orphanage located at Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Oyi L.G.A., Anambra State, with branches in Lagos State. The Arrow of God Orphanage came under scrutiny in 2023 after an investigative journalist exposed alleged illicit activities related to illegal adoption and sales of babies linked to the orphanage.

Following these revelations, NAPTIP launched a comprehensive investigation, resulting in Ogo’s arrest on October 3, 2023, at 15:10hrs within the premises of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Awka, Anambra State.

The defendant was arraigned on a one-count charge, which states: “That you Ogo Chinwe Clara Deborah (F) 83 Years old, of 66 Awka Road, Onitsha, Anambra State and others (at large), on July 6^th, 2023 at the above address within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, did buy and sell a baby, female, 5(Five) months old, and thereby committed an offense punishable under Sections 21 of the trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015”.

Clara Ogo pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The presiding judge granted her bail with a bond of N1.3 million and two sureties in like sum. She was subsequently remanded at the Onitsha Correctional Facility pending the fulfillment of her bail conditions. The case has been adjourned to July 10, 2024, for trial.

Meanwhile, the orphanage has been sealed

Court orders remand in custody of 83-year-old Arrows of God Orphanage founder

FIJ