"Enemies hatch plans to expel 'poultry farm orphans'"

Care givers to orphans of the Clephic Orphanage, currently lodged in a poultry farm in the Mile I neighbourhood in Kumba, Meme, Southwest Region, have complained that enemies of the children are using gossip and blackmail for the children to be rendered homeless again.

They were talking to The Post on October 21, few months after the orphans were rescued from the rains by a Kumba-based businessman. The business magnate offered them his poultry farm after the orphans were rendered homeless by a magistrate’s court ruling as result of unpaid rents amounting to millions.

Robert Agbor, who manages the orphanage, told The Post that, despite their challenges, the new intimidation they are facing now is enemies who go by way of influence peddling to see to it that activities of the orphanage are stalled.

Agbor said persons have resorted to using mockery on the owner of the poultry farm, Disonge Obie, insinuating that the orphans do not appreciate his gesture.

Besides this blackmail by some members of the public, the Clephic Director stressed that the coming of the dry season poses a threat to living on the poultry farm as a result of excessive heat.

He said, though churches have been coming in from time to assuage their situation, the management of the orphanage still remains grateful to the businessman who came to their rescue.

One of the female staff who works at the orphanage disclosed that, before the court ruling of July 2014, the same businessman had been granting scholarship to children of Clephic at the secondary school level.

The staff claimed that it was they who opted for the poultry farm as home for the orphans, given that the businessman made two offers to the orphanage.

According to the staff, the poultry farm protects the children from stigmatisation by children from neighbouring compounds, as obtained in their previous location.

Quizzed on allegations that they were using the motherless baby home to make money, the Clephic officials dismissed the claims on ground that many people hate seeing good works in society.

The orphanage Director lamented that, from the early days of the orphanage in Ekondo Titi in Ndian Division, they faced such problems from politicians and traditional rulers.

In this light, he maintained that the accommodation problem the children are facing is because their permanent residence, constructed with funds from Addax Petroleum in Ekondo Titi, has been hijacked by individuals.