Reps move to address spate of child abuse in Nigeria

The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity to put modalities in place to arrest the spate of child abuse in the country.

This followed a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Omosede Igbinedion at the plenary on Tuesday.

Leading debate on the motion, Igbinedion said that children were gifts from Almighty God and should be loved, protected and provided for.

She said that the Child’s Rights Act as passed by the National Assembly shows commitment to work with the International Labour Organisation to combat child labour in Nigeria.

The legislator said that the sudden rise in the rate of child labour, molestation and abuse in the country was disturbing.

She expressed worry over the recent data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, which showed that 50.8 per cent of Nigerian children, aged between five and 17 were engaged in child labour.

Igbinedion explained that child labour entailed work that were mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to the children and ultimately deprives them the opportunity to good education.

“Oftentimes, child domestic helps are forced to do work that are beyond their tender bodies, and eventually stunt the general development of the children involved.

“Children who depend on the care of adult often end up being molested and maltreated in ways that are out rightly inhumane,” she said.

Igbinedion said that a survey carried out by the National Population Commission (NPC) in 2014, showed that six out of every 10 children have experienced some form of violence.

Igbinedion said the NPC survey also showed that 50 per cent of Nigerian children have experienced physical violence and that from 2014 till date, there had not been any improvement.

She said that child sexual abuse was beginning to rear its ugly head in Nigeria and that there was no better time than now to declare a state of emergency against all forms of child abuse in Nigeria.

The lawmaker said that it was in line with the constitution which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.

In his contribution, Rep. Nicholas Osai (Delta-PDP), commended the mover of the motion for bring up the matter to the floor of the green chambers.

He said that the issue of child slavery must be arrested and that a situation where parents sell off their children under any guise was unacceptable.

Osai said that the lower chambers must ensure a proper implementation of the 2018 budget to address poverty and hardship in the country.

Also, Rep. Aisha Dukku (Gombe-APC), blamed the situation on poverty and hardship in the country.

Dukku also blamed it on the poor implementation of the Child Basic Education Programme which was intended to ensure children of school age were in class.

She said that if the programme was well implemented, there would have been a smooth and easier transition from primary to secondary school.

“We must ensure that this problem of child labour must be addressed,” she said.

The house resolved to enlighten the public on the need to bring the incidences of child molestation and abuse to the notice of the relevant authorities.

In his ruling, the Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, mandated the Committees on Women Affairs and Social Development, Human Rights, Labour, Employment and Productivity to ensure implementation.

Dogara also mandated the committees to investigate the trend and report to the House within two weeks for further legislative action.