Child Rights Activist Drags Nigeria to ECOWAS Court Over Missing Children in Delta State

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court has registered a human rights case against the Federal Republic of Nigeria over the alleged abduction and trafficking of children in Delta State. The suit, filed by child rights advocate Comrade Ighorhiohwunu Aghogho under Suit No. ECW/CCJ/APP/46/25, was lodged and formally registered on September 19, 2025. The Court has directed the Nigerian government to file its defence within 30 days.

Aghogho, who is also the convener of Operation Save Nigerian Children, brought the case in a representative capacity for dozens of children allegedly abducted from Agbarho Town in Ughelli North Local Government Area. Through his counsel, Andrew N. Elekeokwuri of Andrew Ewoh & Co., he accuses the Nigerian state of failing to prevent, investigate, and address the disappearances, which he links to illegal orphanages, unlawful police units, and a controversial child rights amendment passed in Delta State in 2024.

At the centre of the dispute is Section 136(1a) of the Delta State Child Rights (Amendment) Law, which allows payments for facilitating adoption once endorsed by a court and the Ministry of Women Affairs. The applicant argues this provision legitimises the sale of children, fuels child trafficking, and emboldens complicit actors, including police officers and illegal orphanage operators.

The suit also challenges the proliferation of orphanages in Delta State, which the applicant says operate outside the framework of the federal Child Rights Act 2003. According to the Act, only registered children’s homes are lawful, and admission of children must be done through valid placement orders issued by a Family Court. Instead, the applicant claims that children are routinely admitted into orphanages without judicial oversight, creating systemic abuses.

In addition, the Nigerian Police Force is accused of operating Juvenile Welfare Centres (JWCs) in Delta State without legal foundation. The applicant argues that instead of establishing the specialised Children Police Unit required under Section 207 of the Child Rights Act, the police created JWCs that have become channels for unlawful detention and child disappearances. Annexed evidence includes a list of suspected trafficked children linked to the JWC in the Delta State Police Command.

The case also draws on events earlier this month, when hundreds of women in Agbarho staged mass protests over child abductions. Demonstrators blocked roads, paralysed business activity, and accused authorities of complicity in the disappearances, which they said had been occurring weekly for over a year. The protests spread to the palace of the Osuvie of Agbarho Kingdom and the local police station, with the monarch formally demanding the removal of the divisional police officer.

Aghogho argues that Nigeria’s failure to act violates multiple legal instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Nigerian Constitution. He also challenges the constitutionality of Section 136(1a) of the Delta State law for conflicting with federal law and enabling child commodification.

The applicant is asking the Court to declare Nigeria’s tolerance of illegal orphanages and JWCs as systemic violations of children’s rights. He seeks orders compelling the government to investigate and produce the missing children, shut down illegal structures, abolish JWCs, and operationalise the specialised Children Police Unit. He also requests $50,000 in damages per trafficked child and demands reforms to bring national laws and policies in line with international obligations.

The ECOWAS Court has notified the Attorney General of the Federation to represent Nigeria. Should the government fail to respond within the stipulated timeframe, judgment may be delivered in its absence.