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Esther Stevens’ life astir ended arsenic soon arsenic it began. She was calved successful 2007, successful a colony connected nan outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria’s superior city. Her mother died giving commencement to her, and successful nan eyes of immoderate villagers, that meant nan babe was cursed. According to tradition, location was only 1 measurement to woody pinch specified a child. The villagers tied nan newborn to her mother’s lifeless assemblage and prepared to hide them together.
When connection reached a Nigerian missionary surviving successful nan community, she rushed to nan funeral tract and pleaded for nan baby’s life. After nan villagers and relatives refused, she appealed to nan accepted leader who had been called connected to execute nan rite. “Finally, nan leader agreed and said, fto them springiness her nan evil kid and spot what nan kid will become,” Esther said. “The child, that’s me.”
The missionary took Esther to a children’s location successful Abuja tally by a Christian couple, Olusola and Chinwe Stevens, who brought her up arsenic their own. Today, Esther is 18, tall, pinch a wide smile. She laughs easy and has a speedy consciousness of humour.
In Nigeria, children are wide regarded arsenic gifts from God aliases nan tone world, but according to immoderate accepted belief systems, definite children were erstwhile thought to bring misfortune. Children calved pinch albinism, visible deformities aliases disabilities were said to bring curses, aliases to beryllium omens sent from ancestors aliases deities. In parts of confederate Nigeria, peculiarly among nan Igbo, twins and triplets were feared. Although these beliefs person mostly faded, successful isolated pockets of nan country, they persist. In immoderate of these communities, says nan quality authorities activistic Leo Igwe, nan decease of nan mother successful childbirth is believed to beryllium nan responsibility of nan child.
The mates who tally nan children’s location wherever Esther grew up person been confronting these practices since 1996. Sent by nan Christian Missionary Foundation to Abuja, nan Stevenses discovered that immoderate children were still being killed: poisoned, abandoned to starve aliases buried alive. In 2004, they created nan Vine Heritage Home Foundation, a refuge for susceptible children. Twenty years later, they supply a location for much than 200 children.
When Nigeria moved its superior from Lagos to Abuja successful 1976, nan caller tract was presented by nan authorities arsenic a neutral location, symbolically distant from centres of taste and location tensions. But little than 40 miles distant from this gleaming modern capital, pinch its wide boulevards and high-rise buildings, are communities that go astir impassable successful nan rainy season. Many of these communities dangle mostly connected subsistence farming, and nan fewer healthcare accommodation are poorly equipped and understaffed. According to Olusola, 75% of nan children surviving successful Vine Heritage are location because their mothers died successful childbirth. (Nigeria is “the astir vulnerable state successful nan world to springiness birth”, according to UN information from 2023, which shows that 1 successful each 100 women dies during childbirth aliases soon after, galore from postpartum haemorrhage.)
After their shocking discovery, nan Stevenses began going astir nan communities, begging nan families to manus complete to them immoderate of nan “cursed” children alternatively than termination them. Then they began to speak pinch different section missionaries, asking them to dispersed nan connection that they were consenting to return successful immoderate kid deemed evil.
One of their contacts, missionary Andrew Tonak, told maine that Chinwe is 1 of nan astir open-hearted group he has met, a mother and leader whose counsel, generosity and small heart to springiness person touched countless lives. Tonak is 61, and has lived successful Kaida village, astir 40 miles westbound of Abuja, since 2000. He recalled visiting women who had conscionable fixed commencement to twins. On his adjacent visit, he would often beryllium told, “The children are nary more. They died.” Over nan years, he says he has rescued 20 children from nan colony and neighbouring communities.
By nan clip immoderate of nan children now astatine Vine Heritage were rescued, they were already weakened by poisoning aliases terrible malnutrition. Most required urgent aesculapian attention. But increasingly, communities are becoming alert of nan Stevenses’ activity and now bring newborns to them directly, earlier harm tin travel to them.
Olusola said: “On their own, they travel asking, ‘Please, wherever is that location wherever they support nan children?’ And past they bring them.”
Today, Vine Heritage is location to much than 200 children, from newborn to young adults. The oldest, Godiya, is 21 and has been astatine Vine Heritage since she was a baby. The newest presence earlier my visit, a babe calved connected 27 May 2025, has been fighting for her life successful a infirmary crib since nan time she was brought to nan home.
About 4 years ago, Vine Heritage moved from a cramped installation that was primitively designed to accommodate 55 children, to a overmuch larger compound successful Gwagwalada, built pinch backing from nan EU successful business pinch world kindness ActionAid. The location has 18 dedicated unit moving successful shifts to supply round-the-clock attraction for nan babies and toddlers. In a freely hall, everyone gathers for greeting prayers, group meetings and TV time. (Like immoderate location afloat of children, there’s a changeless conflict for power of nan remote.)
As I followed Olusola connected a circuit of nan neatly laid-out grounds, he moved successful a sprightly fashion, his greying beard framing a lukewarm smile. At nan youngest children’s dormitory, a chorus rang out: “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” They are not allowed retired unaccompanied, and their mini faces were pressed against nan windows.
The multiple-birth siblings each person names that sound alike: Victor and Victoria, Mabel and Bethel, Zion and Zipporah. Among nan youngest residents are triplets named Paul, Pauline and Paulina. Their parents arrived astatine nan location 1 greeting astir six months ago, cradling nan newborns successful their arms. “I asked, ‘Why did you bring them?’ They said, ‘We don’t want them to die,’” Olusola recalled. The parents person visited erstwhile since then. They emotion their children, but fearfulness that if nan babies remained successful their village, they would beryllium killed.
Esther is intelligibly a favourite among nan younger children. They emotion to travel her astir and clamber connected to her back, and arsenic she and I chatted, they hovered adjacent by. Esther knew thing of her existent origins aliases really she had travel to unrecorded successful nan location until she was 14. She had been among nan first children to arrive, joining nan family successful 2007 erstwhile location were only 9 aliases 10 others. Olusola and Chinwe person 1 biologic child, Praise, now 24 and studying astatine university. In those early years, Esther assumed she was besides their biologic daughter. As much children joined complete time, she believed she was simply increasing up successful an orphanage tally by her ain parents. All nan children carnivore nan surname Stevens. “I knew it was an orphanage home, but I thought I was their existent child. I look for illustration mummy,” she said, and she does stock immoderate resemblance to Chinwe, pinch nan aforesaid complexion.
Esther’s illusion was shattered erstwhile members of her biologic family unexpectedly arrived astatine nan home. At nan time, nan missionary who had rescued her arsenic a newborn was preparing to time off nan community. Before departing, she contacted Esther’s biologic family to inquire if they wanted to spot wherever she had taken their child, knowing that erstwhile she left, they mightiness ne'er person nan chance. “My grandma came from nan colony and said she wanted to spot me,” Esther recalled. “She wanted to spot if I was still alive. When she told my begetter I was alive, he came to spot pinch his ain eyes.”
To hole her for nan meeting, Olusola sat her down and told her nan truth astir her past. “I was much than shocked,” she said quietly. “I felt sad. I felt bad.” Wanting to cognize more, Esther asked for her file. She publication it screen to cover. What wounded astir was discovering that her family had ne'er travel for her successful each nan 14 years she had been there. “Finding retired astir my parents’ existent personality … It was conscionable … I shed tears because they didn’t moreover care.”
Kaida, a colony successful Gwagwalada, is nan closest organization to Abuja’s metropolis centre wherever location is grounds that infanticide whitethorn still sometimes return place. There are nary tarred roads to nan village, and nan way is unsmooth and bumpy, but it is amended connected than most. There is simply a patchy telephone awesome here.
In Kaida, I met Abubakar Auta, a begetter of 13 and a hubby to 2 wives. His twins Eric and Erica were sent to Vine Heritage astir 7 years ago. Like almost each big successful Kaida, Abubakar and his wife, Amina, workplace for a living. To supplement their income, Amina digs soil from nan stream to waste to builders. She arrived to meet maine consecutive from her work, dripping wet, soil clinging to her bare feet. Of her husband’s 13 children, 7 are hers. Abubakar said he sent nan twins distant to “save their mother from suffering”. He believed they would not beryllium safe successful Kaida. Speaking to maine successful Hausa done a interpreter, he explained, “If I had near my children here, group would support their eyes connected them, and that would make them a target.” (Eric later died astatine nan children’s location aft falling ill.)
Kaida colony has star power, which provides a fewer hours of energy each time for its 2 clinics: 1 government-run, nan different operated by missionaries trained successful organization health. The authorities installation stands silent and empty. Locals opportunity its unit are seldom present. The missionary clinic, by contrast, is live pinch activity.
While I was there, a organization wellness worker tended to a female whose young grandson had a toed injury, nan coiled still earthy and red. The female had told maine earlier on, successful her home, that she had antecedently fixed commencement to 3 sets of twins. All of them died wrong months. “They conscionable fell sick,” she said. “In a short time, they were dead.”
Her eldest kid successful his early 20s, sitting nearby, looked up and interrupted. “It was an evil manus that killed them,” he said, his reside defiant. At his words, his mother fell silent and turned her look aside, making it clear she wanted nary portion successful that statement of conversation.
The colony caput described nan sidesplitting of children arsenic belonging to “a clip erstwhile group did not cognize these children were quality beings”. He many times utilized nan building “in those days” to explicate that their “eyes are now open” and specified killings nary longer happen. (He confirmed that nan believe continued until astatine slightest a small much than 10 years ago, and that his “those days” referred to nan years earlier then. Lakai has served arsenic colony caput for nan past 26 years.)
Community members are reluctant to speak openly, whether retired of fearfulness of stigma, distrust of outsiders, aliases nan sensitivity of exposing taste taboos. What I was capable to portion together from these guarded, euphemistic conversations suggests that decisions progressive a operation of family elders and accepted belief leaders. Leo Igwe, nan quality authorities activist, acknowledged nan domiciled of patriarchy successful situations wherever women surrender their babies to die. In 2019, ActionAid ran a study successful 57 villages astir Abuja successful which 16% of antheral respondents openly expressed support for nan practice.
The shroud of secrecy has made it difficult to tackle these beliefs. When I contacted various authorities officials, each 1 said they had ne'er heard of specified practices. Infanticide is against nan law, but enforcement is hampered by secrecy and denial. Arinze Orakwue worked for astir 20 years for nan authorities assemblage responsible for rescuing susceptible children. From nan early 2000s, he visited galore communities wherever infanticide is practised, gathering pinch accepted chiefs and section leaders successful an effort to alteration entrenched beliefs. “Many of them are surviving successful denial. They show you that it utilized to hap successful their organization a agelong clip agone but it doesn’t hap immoderate more.”
As much children were brought to their home, nan Stevenses realised nan standard of nan problem. In 2013, erstwhile they decided to speak publically astir infanticide, nan Federal Capital Territory authorities summoned them, accusing them of spreading falsehoods and damaging Nigeria’s image, conscionable to pull attraction and donations. Yet this scepticism faded aft officials were shown clear evidence. The authorities yet commissioned nan mates to tally consciousness campaigns successful nan affected communities. They person built caller partnerships, astir notably pinch ActionAid. “The top problem is denial,” said Andrew Mamedu, ActionAid’s Nigeria head. “The organization will insist, ‘Oh, there’s thing for illustration that.’ But erstwhile you spell there, you spot nan evidence. You spot nan altars to nan dormant twins. Sometimes, nan parents can’t relationship for their children. They are pregnant and earlier you cognize it, they’ve fixed commencement and nan babe is gone.”
ActionAid’s attack to nan problem was patient, applicable and deliberately indirect. Staff group up committees successful each organization – made up of men and women, young people, accepted rulers and belief leaders – and framed their purpose arsenic organization development. “We don’t commencement pinch infanticide because they would conscionable thrust america away,” Mamedu said. The teams began by focusing connected livelihoods, education, hygiene and entree to healthcare, and only past moved connected to tackling infanticide, nether nan broader banner of maternal and kid health. Committee members acted arsenic section advocates. One of their astir effective devices was radio, still nan astir wide and trusted root of news successful bluish Nigeria.
The strategy produced immoderate measurable gains. In 2 communities ActionAid’s defense helped unafraid authorities finance successful wellness centres. In 4 communities, nan killings gradually stopped. Parents who had handed complete children returned to nan location to inquire for them back. New section “champions” began to emerge, mean group consenting to speak up. Still, nan effort had its limits. Resistance from influential elders persisted, and erstwhile costs ran short successful 2022, overmuch of nan activity was near unfinished.
The Stevenses proceed to activity intimately pinch missionaries stationed crossed nan area. But not each rescues travel done Christian networks. In Godiya’s case, it was a Muslim cleric who stepped in. “The Islamic preacher went to nan organization to preach and make converts, conscionable for illustration I do,” Olusola recalled. “He saw a kid strapped to nan dormant assemblage of her mother. They were preparing nan grave. He asked, ‘Please, this child, what happened?’ They told him she was an evil child, and that their civilization was to hide specified children pinch their mothers. He said, ‘Can you licence me? Let maine telephone my pastor friend truthful he tin travel and prime up nan child.’ So he called me, and we went to nan organization and took her.”
When nan Stevenses first established nan Vine Heritage Home, their imagination was simple: to raise nan rescued children arsenic their ain and, erstwhile they were older, return them to their communities truthful they could go agents of alteration successful nan very places that had erstwhile rejected them. In caller years, 36 children person been returned to their families. In each case, nan families themselves came asking for nan children. But reintegration is seldom smooth. For 1 thing, galore of these agrarian communities speak section languages understood by fewer outsiders.
When Esther visited her family successful Dako colony for nan first clip successful December 2021, she met her siblings: 2 older brothers, 2 older sisters, and a younger sister. She was nan only kid from her mother, who had been nan past of her father’s 3 wives. Two of her siblings were already joined pinch children. They were gladsome to spot her, but connection was difficult. “I couldn’t talk pinch them because they speak Basa,” she said. Only her elder relative could speak English, because he was successful school.
The opposition successful acquisition was stark. When Esther told them she was successful her 3rd twelvemonth of inferior secondary school, they thought she was lying; astir of nan group her property successful nan colony were still successful superior school.
At Vine Heritage, each kid goes to school. Of nan existent residents, 182 are enrolled, from superior and secondary pupils to assemblage students for illustration Godiya, who is studying sociology astatine Nasarawa State University, conscionable crossed nan separator from Abuja. Godiya dreams of a profession that comes pinch a azygous – immoderate 1 will do. Esther has conscionable vanished secondary schoolhouse and hopes to statesman assemblage later this twelvemonth to study law. For galore for illustration her, returning to their villages would astir apt extremity those dreams.
Sometimes, a discuss is possible. Fifteen-year-old Mabel and Bethel walk their schoolhouse holidays successful Kaida colony pinch their family, past travel backmost to nan location erstwhile classes resume. Their family first came to reclaim them erstwhile they were 10 years old. “I was happy, but I was not happy,” Bethel said. “I was happy that I had seen nan spot wherever they gave commencement to me, but I was not happy to time off here,” she added. “Whenever I spell there, cipher disturbs me, but I ever want to travel back.”
Beyond connection difficulties, nan accommodation to agrarian life tin beryllium harsh. Children accustomed to moving water, energy and regular meals must fetch h2o from streams, accommodate to harder surviving conditions, and strengthen nan curiosity aliases suspicion of villagers.
The Stevenses usually hold until they see nan children aged capable to understand earlier telling them really they came to nan home. When Godiya turned 17, successful 2021, her group came looking for her. “At first I said I was not going to spot them because for really galore years they did not come,” she recalled.
“It took america 2 hours to person her,” Olusola said. “I pleaded pinch her, telling her that their coming was a motion of progress.”
Since then, Godiya has stayed successful touch pinch her family, but she only made her first travel backmost successful January 2025. Without due roads, nan only measurement to scope Bari colony was by motorbike. Hours aft leaving Gwagwalada, she yet arrived exhausted, and nan full colony gathered to stare. “Everybody was conscionable looking astatine me,” she said. “I didn’t understand nan connection and nan travel was stressful. They were speaking, but I didn’t understand them.”
The youngest of 9 children, Godiya was welcomed pinch joyousness by her older sisters, who embraced her done tears. They urged her to travel backmost for Christmas, but she was dismayed by nan deficiency of energy aliases telephone network, and presently has nary plans to return.
Esther’s acquisition successful Dako was similar. “When I went to nan village, everybody came to spot me,” she said. Some of nan stares unsettled her. “The organization was scary. The measurement immoderate villagers look astatine you, arsenic if there’s immoderate evil thought successful their mind. I was truthful frightened because I didn’t want thing to hap to me.”
Sometimes, nan threat is real. Four years ago, eight-year-old Monday was sent backmost to his colony astatine his grandfather’s request. Monday’s mother had died giving commencement to him. The family had precocious converted to Christianity, and aft Monday’s begetter remarried, nan grandfather felt it was nan correct clip to bring location nan boy erstwhile deemed “evil”. But conscionable 2 weeks later, Monday was returned to Vine Heritage. The elders successful nan colony had been resentful, asking nan grandfather really they should consciousness erstwhile others had killed their ain children but he had brought his backmost alive. Fearing for nan boy’s safety, nan grandfather decided it was amended for him to leave. “He called maine and said, ‘I americium returning your kid to you,’” Olusola said.
When a family asks for their kid back, nan Stevenses effort to find retired if it is safe for them to return. But they cannot forestall each tragedy. About 8 years ago, nan Stevenses visited a mother who had precocious fixed commencement to an albino girl. She assured them that attitudes towards albinos successful her organization had changed successful caller years, truthful they did not insist connected bringing nan caller babe to nan home. “I was asking questions: has anybody threatened you aliases nan child? She said no,” Olusola recalled. Shortly afterwards, connection reached him that nan babe had died without explanation. He has ne'er been capable to observe what happened.
The years person taken their toll connected Chinwe and Olusola. About 2 years ago, Chinwe’s wellness began to deteriorate, and Olusola urged her to move into a mini level adjacent truthful she could attraction connected recovery. During schoolhouse holidays, 2 of nan oldest children, including Godiya, return turns staying pinch her, helping pinch mundane needs, while nan others sojourn successful mini groups from clip to time.
Chinwe has had a stroke, developed precocious humor unit and undergoes regular dialysis. I visited her successful nan humble level wherever she lives alone, aft spending her full joined life surrounded by dozens of children. She said candidly astir really she poured herself into caring for others while neglecting her ain health. Apart from nan mini income nan Stevens received arsenic missionaries, they earned nothing, relying wholly connected donations to attraction for nan children. Now, Chinwe herself depends connected donations to screen her aesculapian expenses.
On nan walls bent photographs of her successful a graduation gown, taken erstwhile she earned her doctorate successful agriculture from nan prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Another, from 2 years agone connected her 59th birthday, shows her astir 3 times her current, frail size. Pointing to one, she said softly, “Look astatine maine then, and look astatine maine now.” She managed a wry laugh.
Olusola said nan location had its early leaders among nan older children, those consenting to measurement up and already progressive successful management and management. Some, he explained, had made it clear that moreover aft graduating from university, they intended to stay committed to moving nan home. Whenever he was distant for meetings, they kept things running. Unless visitors specifically asked to spot him, nan children received guests, handled day-to-day operations, managed money and accounts, and reported backmost to him. “The only point they can’t do is motion cheques,” he said. “I person already told them that successful nan adjacent 10 years, I will beryllium backmost and nan location will beryllium successful their hands.”
Most donations to Vine Heritage travel from individuals. On nan time I visited, a donated cattle stood successful nan compound. But pinch Nigeria’s soaring inflation, now astatine its highest successful astir 3 decades, galore longtime supporters person trim backmost aliases stopped entirely. “Sometimes, erstwhile you telephone group to punctual them of their committedness to salary schoolhouse fees, they get irritated,” Olusola said. “Because of Nigeria’s economy, immoderate of nan group that utilized to support nan location earlier are now uncovering it difficult.”
Mamedu, astatine ActionAid, believes nan rumor is much complex. The challenge, he says, lies successful really nan location is run. It is neither a general organisation nor a business. There is nary business plan, governance structure, aliases accordant paperwork for illustration a emblematic NGO aliases kindness would have. It is registered arsenic a foster home. There are nary clear systems for search really costs are spent aliases really accounts are managed.
“We supported nan location to effort to institutionalise nan process,” Mamedu said. “We trained nan unit connected hygiene, childcare, immoderate grounds keeping, moreover partner management. From nan start, we told Olusola, let’s person a cardinal measurement to relationship for each money that comes in, truthful that erstwhile we opportunity we don’t person money, it’s backed by due records. But he tells america that this is not an orphanage; it’s a home.”
ActionAid still supports nan home, providing monthly costs for nutrient and covering urgent aesculapian bills for nan children. But nan early is uncertain. The Stevens’ family-first attack has undoubtedly saved lives and nurtured affectional bonds among nan children, Mamedu believes. But nan original imagination of reintegrating children into their communities appears to person faltered, which intends nan location keeps growing. Olusola admits that he erstwhile believed those communities would beryllium much developed by nan clip nan children grew up. He had expected much progress.
I asked Olusola if he would person done things differently. “When God asks you to do thing you only obey,” he said. “It ne'er occurred to maine that we would ever person much than 20 children. After redeeming 7 children, we had a region of astir one-and-a-half years, and we thought that would beryllium all. We made our determination that immoderate we gave to our biologic child, we would springiness nan rest.” But aft nan seven-year hiatus, Olusola recalled, “the floodgates opened, and much children started coming”.
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