The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Kaduna has arraigned a civil servant Mercy Madaki, 36, before a Chief Magistrate’s Court over trafficking and sale of a child.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the Ministry of Human Services and Social Development had on August 7, 2022 written the NSCDC requesting an investigation into an alleged case of child trafficking against Mercy Madaki, the suspect and the head of Magajin Gari Orphanage.
“Investigation revealed that sometime in the month of March 2021, the Kaduna State Honourable Commissioner of Human Services and Social Development Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba handed one Humaira, female of about a year old (at the time of her missing) to the suspect, to take charge and care of the child as one of the orphans at the orphanage.
“Sometime in the month of March 2022, some nannies at the orphanage saw/witnessed the suspect directing one Zulai Yakubu, the nanny in charge of Humaira, to hand over the child to an unknown woman.
“Later on the same day, the suspect ordered all the staff on duty to tell anybody that enquire about Humaira that she is dead. The suspect, subsequently, verbally reported to Ministry of Human Services and Social Development that Humaira is dead and has been buried accordingly, without any evidence to prove her death or the place she was buried.
“The action of the suspect is contrary to and punishable under section 256 of Kadun State Penal Code Law 2017 and Section 30 of Kaduna State Child Welfare and Protection Law 2018 respectively,” the FIR read.
During her arraignment on Wednesday before the Magistrate’s Court 9 in Daura Road, Kaduna, Mercy was admitted on bail to two sureties on ₦800,000 bail bond. Both sureties must be resident of Kaduna, with proof of landed property within Kaduna state.
The court said if she fails to meet the bail conditions, she should be remanded in the Kaduna Correctional Centre pending her trial.
