The Audio Long Read ‘The children are not safe here’: the Nigerian couple fighting infanticide
Mar 20, 2026
A couple runs a refuge for newborns condemned by local beliefs and fights to keep them alive. The story explores rescue missions, hidden practices of infanticide, and strained healthcare in remote villages. It follows efforts to educate communities, the challenge of reuniting children with wary families, and worries about the refuge’s future sustainability.
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Newborn Esther Rescued From Burial With Mother
- Esther was rescued as a newborn after villagers tied her to her mother's corpse to bury them together as part of a ritual.
- A missionary intervened and took her to Olushola and Chinwe Stevens, who raised her at Vine Heritage Home from 2007 onward.
Beliefs Still Endanger Vulnerable Newborns
- In isolated Nigerian pockets children born with disabilities or after a mother's death are still seen as omens and sometimes killed.
- The Stephenses discovered killings, poisonings and abandonment after being sent by the Christian Missionary Foundation in 1996.
Missionary Network Brought Babies To Vine Heritage
- The Stephenses circulated word through missionaries and communities offering to take any child labeled "evil" rather than let them be killed.
- Over time families began bringing weakened or newborn infants directly to Vine Heritage before harm occurred.