The owner of an orphanage in Asaba, Delta State, Ogugua Christopher, is facing a 10-year sentence without the option of a fine if found guilty of kidnapping charges preferred against him by the Kano State government.

Christopher is standing trial for kidnapping and harbouring children from Kano in his Asaba facility. When he was arraigned before Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu of the Kano High Court, yesterday, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the three counts brought against him.

The first count of the charge read: “That on June 21, 2016, at 10am, in Hotoro Quarters, Kano, you, Ogugua Christopher, kidnapped Maryam Sulaiman, a four-year-old minor under the lawful guardianship of her parents, thereby committing an offence under section 273 of the Penal Code Law of Kano State.”

Christopher, who denied the three counts read to him, claimed he only came to Kano for the first time in 2016 and had yet to start operating an orphanage home in that year.

Earlier, the prosecuting counsel, Khadija Aliyu Umar, filed an application for the substitution of charges against the initial 15 counts of conspiracy and kidnapping, contrary to Sections 97 and 273 of the Kano State Penal Code, and Section 32(5) of the Children and Young Persons Law of Kano.

The case stemmed from a petition filed in December 2022 by the Protection Against Abduction and Trafficking of Our Children (PATAMOC) to National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), concerning the alleged disappearance of more than 600 children from Kano since 2010, out of which eight were later rescued.

Meanwhile, the defendant’s counsel, Herbert Nwoye, filed two applications requesting necessary documents regarding the prosecution to enable a proper defence. He also submitted a bail application for the release of his client, who has been in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).

November 12, 2025 has been set for hearing on the application and trial.