Recently a soft sell newspaper published a malicious report concerning the Little Saints Orphanage, wherein I was slandered, and terrible lies against the Little Saints and myself were published, based on a concocted story by an unstable young woman who was sent to us by a senior staff of NTA. She went to their station to solicit for someone who will adopt her five year old son.

The lady came to our office and I convinced her not to give up her baby as she and her baby were obviously attached to each other. We do not take such children because we know it is desperation and lack that propels such abandonment of children. I therefore advised her to go for some form of vocational training to empower herself. I immediately liaised with the founder of another charity organization, ‘REHOBOTH,’ that takes care of such women to help her.

The founder agreed to take her in but could not take in the child. We (Little Saints Orphanage) then agreed to help look after her child for the short period of rehabilitation and reformation. We made her to get a sworn affidavit to this effect, as well as her hand written letter (both attached). On Thursday 6^th of November, she went to Rehoboth.

The next day, the founder of Rehoboth called me to say she was a difficult recipient, unwilling to abide by the rules of the home. She was sent back to us, but it was a weekend so I gave her a note to stay at our Abule Egba branch.

On arrival at my office on Monday 10^th, she pleaded for another chance and for a job of any kind. She boasted about her praying abilities. I told her about a charity organization that cares for the mentally challenged and asked if she was willing to join the team of workers in the home. She became excited and with a big smile said ‘YES’.

As soon as she got there she became aggressive to the workers, and insisted on leaving the home. She was told to wait for them to get in touch with me first. She refused and became very restless. When they called me I immediately told them to let her come back to us. When she came back to us she was full of complaints.  I contacted the home and was told she was not in any way maltreated. Since we are not equipped for women like her, we encouraged her to reconcile herself to her family. We gave her 2500 naira and she left our ministry with her son promising to go and stay with a friend.

A journalist called me a few days later to book an interview which I turned down due to stress, but told him to send in the questions online. Instead of questions, he sent me a list of allegations by the same lady. I called him on phone that I could not respond to such allegations online but took time to tell him about our encounter with the lady. I asked him to investigate the allegations because the orphanage is open to all visitors.  I emphasized the injustice in printing the lies without proper investigation.

He said he will not do such a thing because he has known of the Little Saints since inception. He then promised to stop by our office for a full report.

We were shocked, disappointed and dismayed to see that he still went ahead to slander me and the Little Saints.

Since 1994 when the orphanage commenced the operation of the rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration of orphans, abandoned and abused children, we have never gotten such negative report. The orphanage works in collaboration with the ministry of youth sports and social development on adoption. No child leaves the orphanage without an approval letter from the ministry. No child is put up for adoption without the full completion of all relevant documents, and total investigation of circumstances surrounding any abandonment. We do not charge for adoption. There is no financial inducement in our dealings with adopters, nor with women with unplanned pregnancies or unwanted babies, nor with good Samaritans.

We have over 120 children in four branches of the orphanage; all of them with the exception of the babies are preoccupied with their education. They go to nursery, primary and secondary schools around the orphanage.

 Visitors will confirm that the children are very accessible and if any thing is wrong in the environment it cannot be hidden. In September and November this year TEN of the Little Saints gained admission into LASU and Crawford University. We are still trying hard to get sponsors for them. It appears the purpose of the publication is to destroy the future of the children, and to frustrate our humanitarian efforts by choosing to publish the imaginary tales of an unstable woman.

We forgive the Paper for the malicious and libelous publication. We request that the Editor of the paper visit the orphanage to comfort the children who at this point are very grieved. Their young and vulnerable characters have been threatened. The shame of the lies against them could be hanging over their heads.

 After a visit to any of the branches of the orphanage and anyone who leaves to wickedly allege that these young girls, who by sheer determination, have struggled to overcome their traumatic pasts, are involved in such ungodly acts of being impregnated to deliver babies, is diabolical and dubious. This kind of allegation is the imagination of a twisted mind and it is punishable by the Father of the fatherless.

In the face of such horrible attack it is hard to be a caring Nigerian, but we have no regrets because God is our strength in the Little Saints Orphanage. I say THANK YOU to all our patrons, friends and well wishers who have identified with us all through the years. We rest our case with God. He rewards the just but the wicked will be condemned in judgment by God who is the defender of the oppressed.

Robot  # 1 | 22.11.2008 14:40

Recently a soft sell newspaper published a malicious report concerning the Little Saints Orphanage, wherein I was slandered, and terrible lies against the Little Saints and myself were published, based on a concocted story by an unstable young woman who was sent to us by a senior staff of NTA. She went to their station to solicit for someone who will adopt her five year old son. The lady came to our office and I convinced her not to give up her baby as she and her baby were obviously attached to each other. We do not take such children because we know it is desperation and lack that propels such abandonment of children. I therefore advised her to go for some form of vocational training to empower herself. I immediately liaised with the founder of another charity organization, ‘REHOBOTH,’ that takes care of such women to help her. The founder agreed to take her in but could not take in the child. We (Little Saints Orphanage) then agreed to help look after ...Read the full article.

M. Akosa  # 2 | 22.11.2008 16:43

Dear Mrs George, Thank you so much and may God bless you for the work that you are doing with orphans and abandoned children. On the other hand it is also worrying about your line of defence and narration of the whole incident. I mean you should know better, that the curses of abandonment of children, abuses of others and exploitation is too much a burden. When you go into this business be ready for all sorts. Labeling the poor single mother as mentally challenged, unstable or whatever is appalling. She is a victim and as you can see, immensely suffering as well, but the little child is worse of. I believe at at the end of the day if you have no wrong doing, you do not have nothing to worry about. My advice is be ready for all sorts when you go into this vocation and career, but do not ever let your care for poor souls who have no one but you in this world be affected or destroyed by liars, blackmailers, or clients with obvious mental health issues.

Sweetheart  # 3 | 22.11.2008 16:55

what is hidden, God sees and knows. in life, you just continue to do your best and dont be detered by distractions.

udokaamah  # 4 | 22.11.2008 18:34

I am kinda suprised the author failed to name the "soft sell newspaper". It probably would have been the appropriate response since the newspaper had gone public with a "malicious lie" against the author's organization. In my view naming the newspaper would have conclusively resolved the veracity of their report. Who in Nigeria would believe reports from ...... I am a little disappointed the author wants us to believe her report without giving us all the information that will assist us to reach an independent conclusion.

Dewdrops  # 5 | 22.11.2008 19:02

Nice for her to come out and clear the air.....something you do not find often in Nigeria. Only God knows what happened sha. Frankly sick of reading about baby farms in Nigeria and child trafficking. POLICE raids have revealed an alleged network baby "farms" or "factories" in Nigeria, forcing a new look at the scope of people trafficking in the country. At a hospital in Enugu, a large city in Nigeria's southeast, 20 teenage girls were rescued in May in a police swoop on what was believed to be one of the largest infant trafficking rings in the west African country. The two-storey building on a dusty street in Enugu's teeming Uwani district now stands deserted, shutters down. Neighbours had long found something bizarre about the establishment, where there was virtually no activity during the day, they said. The doctor in charge, who is now on trial, reportedly lured teenagers with unwanted pregnancies by offering to help with abortion. They would be locked up there until they gave birth, whereupon they would be forced to give up their babies for a token fee of around 20,000 naira ($170). The babies would then be sold to buyers for anything between 300,000 and 450,000 naira ($2500-$3800) each, according to a state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). But luck ran out for the gynaecologist, said to be in his 50s, when a woman to whom he had sold a day-old infant was caught by Nigeria's Security and Civil Defence Service (NSCDS) while trying to smuggle the child to Lagos, the security agency said. Statistics on the prevalence of baby breeding are hard to come by, but anti-trafficking campaigners say it is widespread and run by well-organised criminal syndicates. "We believe the scope is much wider than we know," said Ijeoma Okoronkwo, head of NAPTIP. "It has been happening over time, but we did not know. The first indication we had about this came in December 2006, when an NGO raised the alarm and told us babies were being exchanged for cash and that there were a number of hospitals involved." The practice takes varying forms. One is where desperate teenagers with unplanned pregnancies, fearing ostracism by society, get lured to a clinic and are forced to turn over their babies. The girls are so intimidated many can hardly relate their experience freely. But one brave victim, an 18-year-old, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, recounted her week-long ordeal when she was trapped inside one of the clinics days before it was raided by police. "The moment I stepped in there, I was given an injection, I passed out and next thing I woke up and realised I had been raped," said the girl, who was five months pregnant at the time of her ordeal. When she asked if she could telephone her family to let them know of her whereabouts, the doctor slapped her on the face. She was shoved into a room where 19 other girls were kept; all had been through a similar experience. She said the doctor raped her again the following day. A week later police swooped on the clinic. Another category of young women, driven by deep poverty, lease out their wombs and volunteer themselves, as regularly as is biologically possible, to produce babies for sale. "When we raided the hospital, we found four women who had been staying at the clinic for up to three years, to breed babies," NSDCS boss for Enugu state commandant Desmond Agu said. The doctor, whom police named, "had been inviting boys to come and impregnate girls," said Mr Agu. This was just one of around a dozen centres - masquerading as maternity clinics, foster homes, orphanages or shelters for homeless pregnant girls - unearthed in recent months where babies were swapped for cash, said the NAPTITP boss. Last month police swooped on a so-called foster home, not far from the Enugu police headquarters, where seven pregnant teenage girls and five workers were rounded up, residents said. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24650838-23109,00.html

okenikpoto  # 6 | 23.11.2008 04:25

Hi Udokaamah, I understand where you are going but the author mentioning the name of the soft sell will only give them the cheap publicity they are looking for but if you want to really know the softsell that was involved in this unprofessional conduct, then click on this link below http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/ahaoma-kanu/news-of-the-people-magazine-feeding-falsehood-to-the-pub.html Thanks for understanding. =udokaamah;292722>I am kinda suprised the author failed to name the "soft sell newspaper". It probably would have been the appropriate response since the newspaper had gone public with a "malicious lie" against the author's organization. In my view naming the newspaper would have conclusively resolved the veracity of their report. Who in Nigeria would believe reports from ...... I am a little disappointed the author wants us to believe her report without giving us all the information that will assist us to reach an independent conclusion.

Gbolly  # 7 | 23.11.2008 17:09

Dear Mrs George, I was at the Little Saints Orphange, Abule Egba in August this year for the first time. I was very impressed with the Godly caring giving to the children. And the sanitation of the premises. In fact, l worshiped with the children. Concerning the encounter with the newspaper. I feel that you should make the newspaper apologize before extending forgivness. You need to contact the editor and even sue them if they refuse to apologize. I wish you well and continue to be God's mighty tool.

Dewdrops  # 8 | 24.11.2008 06:19

=udokaamah;292722>I am kinda suprised the author failed to name the "soft sell newspaper". It probably would have been the appropriate response since the newspaper had gone public with a "malicious lie" against the author's organization. In my view naming the newspaper would have conclusively resolved the veracity of their report. Who in Nigeria would believe reports from ...... I am a little disappointed the author wants us to believe her report without giving us all the information that will assist us to reach an independent conclusion. Please we are talking of Nigeria here.......you can only get half-truths and half lies and zero crediblity. Just take what you have and run....half bread they say is better than none.