Chairperson of the Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), Mrs. Funmi Falana has advised state governments which have not adopted the Child’s Rights Act to do so in order to stop further abuse of children.
Falana gave the advice in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday in reaction to the case of Ese Oruru, 14, who was abducted by one Yinusa from Bayelsa State to Kano. She said the advice became necessary having just found out that the case of Ese Oruru is not an isolated one.
“We have established that Ese Oruru’s case is not an isolated one and that there are many other teenagers and their families who are suffering in silence.
“We have just received the report of the kidnap and conversion from Christianity to Islam of a 14-year old girl named Lucy Ejeh which occured in Zamfara state.
“Lucy was allegedly abducted by one Hajiya Zarau on the 31st day of October 2009 and taken to an imam’s house for the purpose of conversion to Islam. All efforts made by her parents to secure her release have proved abortive.
“We use this opportunity to call on the government of Zamfara State to ensure that Lucy is re-united with her family without any further delay while her abductors are fished out and prosecuted.
“We are also compelled to call on parents whose underage daughters have been abducted and forced into illegal marriages to report to the media and human rights organisations in the country.”