American Children Abandoned in Africa

A visiting missionary, Warren Beemer, from a Texas church overheard children speaking English in a squalid orphanage in Ibadan, Nigeria. There were three boys and four girls ranging in age from 8 to 16. All were covered with insect bites, were underfed, and three had malaria. They told Beemer that they were American and their adoptive mother had left them in Nigeria months before. They tried to convince the missionary that they were Americans and, as a last resort, they stood shoulder to shoulder and sang the "Star-Spangled Banner." Convinced, Beemer alerted his church which notified authorities and, with the help of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the children were returned to the United States last Friday.

The mother, 47-year-old Mercury Liggins, is in Iraq employed as a contract food service worker and is expected back in the U.S. on August 26. She is under investigation by Texas state authorities for fraud and child abuse.