Red Cross Decries Proliferation Of Orphanages

The South-East Zonal Chairman of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Dr Peter Katchy, has blamed adherence to alien cultural values for the proliferation of motherless babies homes in the zone.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Awka on Thursday, Katchy said that alien cultural values were gradually taking over the customs and traditions of the people.
According to him, adoption of alien cultural values rather than observance of Igbo traditions and customs had led to moral debasement and unwholesome sexual behaviour by young girls.
“Christianity never encourages baby trafficking or surrogate motherhood; neither does it encourage one to sell her baby for money. “Christianity forbids a Christian from contracting a poor young girl to become pregnant and deliver a baby to an infertile man or a barren woman who might have misused herself at early age,’’ he said.
Katchy said such practice was an abomination in Igbo culture as well as in Christian values and norms. He said there were laws on child abuse, human trafficking and child protection, adding that the church could stop illegal adoption, child trafficking and surrogate motherhood.
He said that abject poverty had created opportunity for the desire for child adoption to thrive as young girls were made to become pregnant as surrogate mothers only for their babies to be sold on delivery.
Katchy called on the people to be mindful of adoptions, as every clan, village or kindred had its own ancestral descendants, and urged the people to raise alarm whenever they noticed strange children in their villages.
He said there were legal channels for adoption and that such due process must be followed, adding that the Red Cross Society had zero tolerance for baby trafficking and child abuse.
“We cannot encourage people to do that or else anyone caught will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies for prosecution,’’ he said.