Seven children from the Du Merci orphanages are still in state custody in Kano despite a meeting on 15 April which was meant to finalise their return. A document stating that the children had been returned to their adoptive parents (Professor Richard Tarfa and his wife Mercy, who founded the orphanages ) was signed, yet the children were taken away and not released. While in state care, they have faced mistreatment, neglect, pressure to convert, and misinformation to scare them out of wanting to return to the only parents most have ever known. 27 children had been taken away in 2019, when Professor Tarfa was arrested and imprisoned on false charges: only twenty have been returned. In January, the death of 13-year-old David Tarfa while in custody, with no medical treatment although the authorities knew of his illness, has intensified calls for accountability: his body has still not been released to his family. CSW has continued to advocate for the Tarfa family and for justice to be done.