The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Child abuse

  • Child abuse, domestic violence cases rise in Lagos courts

    Child abuse, domestic violence cases rise in Lagos courts

    THE 10 family courts in Lagos State received  three cases of sexual offences and domestic violence against children daily, the Chief Judge, Justice Funmilayo Atilade, said yesterday.

    She said with over 1,000 cases of abuse, rape and molestation filed every year, there was still much to be done in effectively enforcing the child rights’ law.

    The chief judge spoke yesterday at the Stakeholders Summit on Child Rights/Domestic Violence laws as part of the new legal year activities.

    At the event, the Deputy Governor Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire called for a consolidation of laws relating to children into one legislation for easy implementation as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, said socio-economic and cultural factors work against effective enforcement of the laws on women and children.

    Justice Atilade decried the rise in incidents of domestic violence, rape and other sexual offences.

    “Recent happenings make it obvious that violence and tyranny are shifting to the girl-child. The abduction of the Chibok girls is a case in point. The increase is phenomenal, frightening, offensive and disturbing,” she said.

    The chief judge called for a reassessment of the prosecution of cases involving child abuse and domestic violence.

    Mrs. Orelope-Adefulire urged victims of violence to speak up and seek help before it was too late.

    Besides, she called for a change in the cultural and religious perception of women and children as weak.

    The deputy governor urged the Federal Government to ensure the release of the abducted Chibok school girls.

    “The Federal Government has not done much to the best of my knowledge. We want them to be brought back alive now.

    “Nigeria has the resources; so everything must be done to bring them back,” the chief judge said.

    Ipaye recalled a case where a woman died from domestic violence and the husband was arrested. He was about to be charged with murder, but relatives pleaded with the ministry to drop the case for the children’s sake.

    “The family members were begging that the father of the children should not be sent to jail because there would be no one to provide for them,” Ipaye said.

    According to him, when no one is willing to come up and testify, conviction becomes difficult.

    “We cannot stop impunity if offenders are not punished,” Ipaye added.

  • Signs to know a child is suffering from abuse

    Signs to know a child is suffering from abuse

    Blessing Olisa, in this report, captures signs to look out for when a child is abused with a view to helping out.

     

    The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention defines Child Abuse as “child maltreatment and any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child”.

    Child Abuse is any mistreatment of a child either physically, emotionally or sexually. It could include neglect of such child.

    Aside the physical, emotional and sexual abuse, other types of child abuse common in Nigeria are child marriage, child labour and child trafficking.

    It is worthy to know that abuse of a child can happen anywhere – at home, school, community or any other environment the child finds himself or herself. It can also happen at any time and make the child become a shadow of himself or herself.

    Although sexual child abuse is more common in female children, male children are also exposed to abuse from other females including aunties, older cousins, house helps or even senior students in the schools.

    If sexual abuse happens, how can society help the victimised child?

    According to the Executive Director of Child Emergency Relief Foundation, Mrs. Abosede Oyeleye, “the first step to helping an abused child is to recognize the signs.”

    What are the signs to watch out for?

    When a child unusually begins to get to school early, his teachers are impressed and they think it is a sign of the child moving forward.

    Unfortunately, this could be a sign of a child suffering from abuse. School closes; the child stays back and is not eager to return home.

    In school and other environments, the child appears to be withdrawn, passive and overly compliant to rules and regulations, which is unusual for children.

    The child has problems focusing and learning which is not as a result of any physical or psychological cause. As a result of this, the child’s school performance deteriorates because he or she is dealing with something that is not very obvious.

    A psychological effect of abuse on a child is the permanent fear alert. He is in a constant state of being scared and expecting some unpleasant event to happen.

    An abused child develops an inferiority complex and refuses to trust people who are willing to render help and assistance. The child, unlike most other children becomes less prone to collecting candies and biscuits from people.

    Generally, a child’s behaviour changes and adults around think that he or she has turned a new leaf and become a better child who is less troublesome and less hyperactive.

    Eventually, an individual who suffered sexual abuse as a child may end up having issues with his or her sexuality. They may thus become homosexuals who have lost faith in the opposite sex.

    Oyeleye believes that: “if just one sign is identified, this does not mean abuse has been occurring. Some children may appear to display more than one sign and has not been abused.”

    How to help a child that has been abused

    There are various ways an abused child can be rescued or saved from further abuse. They include:

    Helping the child through the healing process until he is able to independently get over the trauma and confidently talk about it.

    Never blame a child who has been victimised by calling them ridiculous names.

    Never make the child feel like he or she is of no value.

    Helping such child to regain her confidence by taking her to a crisis centre where she can undergo psychological therapy to heal her wounded individuality and self esteem.

    If you notice a child has been abused and you get him or her to open up to you based on grounds of trust, don’t betray his trust.

    When talking with an abused child, the best thing you can provide is calm reassurance and unconditional support. Let your actions speak for you. If you’re having trouble finding the right words, remember that talking about the situation may be difficult for the child. Thus, it is the job of the counsellor and confidant to assure the child of a bright future.

    Do not probe or interrogate the victim. Reassure the child that they did nothing wrong.

    One of such numerous ways is special support and treatment as early as possible. Listen to everything including nonsense that such child has to say once he makes up his mind to talk to you. This will make him/her more comfortable and getting over the incident will be a lot easier.

    Safety of the counsellor, the victim and the victim’s family must also be put into consideration. If there is a problem with security, the healing process should be left to professionals to handle (professionals include non-governmental organizations that are experienced in handling such cases, the police and other law enforcement agents). Such cases could be reported to them and they can take over the situation from where it becomes dangerous.

    Abuse is more than bruises or broken bones, it needs to be handled with lot of care and the earlier the victim gets help the greater chance they have to heal.

    No matter the age, an abused child never forgets the unpleasant incident even after he/she heals.

  • Woman, 70, gets six months suspended jail term for child abuse

    An Oyo Magistrate’s Court has sentenced a 70-year-old woman to six month suspended jail term after finding her guilty of child abuse.

    Magistrate Jejelola Ogunbona, convicted Madam Sarah Omobonike after she pleaded guilty for abusing her grand daughter, Motunrayo Adewale.

    Adewale was  alleged to have  stolen  N100 from her class teacher.

    The court also ordered that Madam Omobonike be under probation for six months and cautioned her not to appear before any court again on similar or other offences.

    The magistrate also ordered  that the state government should take up the victim and rehabilitate her.

    The wife of the executive governor of Oyo State, Mrs Florence Ajimobi had on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at Oyo West Local Government Area of the state rescued  the 10-year-old Adewale from the clutches of her grandmother who was maltreating her.

    Mrs Ajimobi saw the young girl hawking sachet of pure water at Baptist Primary School, Isokun, Oyo town  while she was distributing foodstuff to women in the area, courtesy of the Ajumose Food Bank project.

    When Mrs Ajimobi saw her, she noticed that the young girl   had a  swollen eye which could not open while the other eye was dripping water. She also noticed big cane marks all over her face.

    When asked what happened to her, the little girl told Mrs Ajimobi that she was an orphan and was beaten on the eye by her grandmother.

    She said she had not been given any treatment since the incident happened.

    Mrs Ajimobi sent for the grandmother and she confessed that she was the one that beat the young girl because she stole. She also confirmed that the girl’s eye cannot see again.

    At the court proceedings she admitted that she was guilty and pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

     

  • Women to hold seminar on child abuse

    Come October 15, the women organization of Anglican Church of the Ascension Opebi Ikeja in the Diocese of Lagos West, will bring together eminent jurists and other dignitaries drawn from all segments of the society to discuss Child Sex Abuse in our society.

    The seminar titled:” Deborah Congress 2013″, will have, The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Philips as the Special Guest of Honour and will be supported by other personalities from both the Bench and the Bar. The Diocesan President of the Women’s Organisation, West, Mrs Lydia Odedeji is expected to be the Mother of the Day.

    According to the President of the Women Organisation of the church, Mrs. Bolaji Agbelusi, “It is rather sad seeing pitiable sights of our children being daily abused, hence women of the church decided to organise this seminar which will discuss and analyse this ugly trend with other women of like minds in our society so as to seek solutions to this urgly menace”

    The seminar holds at Anglican Church of the Ascension, Opebi Ikeja on the 15th October, 2013 between the hours of 9am to 2pm.

  • Iginor as metaphor for child abuse

    Iginor as metaphor for child abuse

    Over the years, the case of child abuse in Nigeria has been alarming. With no end to the cases of child abuse in every part of the country, it appears no one cares.

    In the Federal Polytechnic, Bida (BIDA POLY), Iginor is a form of child abuse, which is common in the city. Just as Almajiri has remained worrisome in the northern states, Iginor is deemed an open embarrassment to the locals of Bida, especially the educated among them.

    In Nupe dialect, Iginor means “a child” irrespective of gender. But on the campus, the term is used to describe an adolescent, who roams about the street and off-campus hostels to sell petty wares and help students to fetch water in return for money.

    These children, which are between the ages 5 to 18 years, are released by their parents to learn Arabic education but they are sent out to hawk on the streets due to financial problems of their Mullahs, who cannot feed nor provide the basic need of life for them. Therefore, these kids are sent out to source for what to live on and most times, they are given targets to be brought back each day.

    To attain the targets and to cater for themselves, Iginors embark on begging or labour work. Such children are usually aggressive and violent as they are exposed to pressure and hunger. The kind of work they do to make living demand energy. They visit hostels to wash clothes for students, and go to restaurants to do all sorts of menial jobs. Through such activities, the kids are exposed to molestation, hunger and other forms of social violence.

    The female among them risk being rape. There have been cases when some of them are sexually abused by local youths, who forcefully slept with them.

    A case of child abuse was recorded recently when a young female hawker entered one of the off-campus hostels. In broad daylight, the minor was raped by a male student. Friends of the rapists tried to bury the matter, but it still became public knowledge with the incidents being broadcast among students. But the matter ended there.

    Similarly, not too long ago, a young boy, whose age would be below seven, was seen struggling to carry a 25 Litre gallon of water on his head in order to be given N20. When asked on what he wanted to do with the money and why he had to fetch water, the chap said in Nupe dialect that he was asked by his parents to go and work in order to bring money. When asked if he was in school, he said he had not started going to school.

    These are some of the cases where underage children are subjected to hard labour and molestation because of pecuniary benefit. Of course, it is simply a child labour, which offends all known codes of human civilisation. Asking adolescents to do strenuous exercise, which many adults cannot do is child abuse.

    These children wander about without going to school. Without education, they will end up to be losers in whatever perspective we may look into it. Some of them are not even attending the Arabic schools for which they are sent much less western education.

    This practice must stop because these young ones are leaders of tomorrow. They are the future hope and pillars, without which the future may look bleak in terms of development. If Iginor is allowed to flourish unabatedly, all the violence visited on the kids will stick in their brain and they may grow up to become criminals in the society within which they live. This will surely be a setback for the society because increase in rate of crime is being attributed to increase in number criminals being bred in the society.

    It is important that children’s right be protected, preserved and maintained. The basic children’s needs are quality education, effective health care, shelter and nutrition.

    Once these basic necessities are provided, there is no doubt that they can perform wonderfully well in their undertakings and can deliver as leaders of tomorrow. No one knows who among today’s children will lead the nation to a greater height tomorrow. When a child’s rights are denied, the hope for a better tomorrow is prohibited.

     

    Precious, HND II Mass Comm., BIDA POLY

  • Lawyer faults child abuse levels

    A lawyer, Mr Kamilu Adegbenro has faulted the continued abuse of children in various parts of the country despite “copious provisions in our laws and international instruments on the rights of the child.”

    Mr Adegbenro, who delivered a lecture entitled: The legal rights of the child in Nigeria to commemorate the 47th Founder’s Day of St Peter’s College, Abeokuta, drew attention to the “gap between law and practice resulting in gross inability of the child to realise these rights.”

    He said: “Child labour and child abuses are still rampant with the presence of street children and children beggars. Domestic violence, child witch craft, street hawking persist on daily in Nigeria. Corruption in government has robbed children of the finance necessary for the implementation of the rights of the child as per their education and the health care delivery system.

    “Children are still deprived from enjoying the full benefit of their basic rights and suffered untold hardship in the exercise or demand of their rights. The enactment of the Child Right Act 2003 is a direct response to the concern and abuse that Nigerian children are exposed to in virtually every state of the federation.”

     

    He urged parents, children, families and government to be alive to their responsibilities under these laws and pay greater attention to their implementation.

    “The attitude of the family and by extension, the society to the idea of a child having any rights at all is to a great extent contributing to the non implementation of the Children’s Law,” he said.

     

  • Child abuse: A societal problem?

    Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment or neglect of a child or children.

    Child maltreatment could also be described as an act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.

    Child abuse can occur in a child’s home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with.

    There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

    Physical abuse involves physical aggression directed at a child by an adult. Most nations with child-abuse laws consider the deliberate infliction of serious injuries, or actions that place the child at obvious risk of serious injury or death, to be illegal. Physical abuse is the intentional or non-accidental production of a physical injury.

    Child sexual abuse on the other hand is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.

    While emotional abuse is defined as the production of psychological and social deficits in the growth of a child as a result of behavior such as loud yelling, coarse and rude attitude, inattention, harsh criticism, and denigration of the child’s personality.

    In many parts of the world, particularly in the developing countries, innocent children are subjected to hardship all in because of poverty.

    Some parents or caregivers are in the habit of beating, biting, blaming and yelling at their children all because they want to correct them of their wrong deeds.

    Children are often punished for behavior they are too young to control. Abusive parent has failed to understand the need to imbibe in the children the desired qualities and ways of life.

    It shouldn’t hurt to be a child. Many children who should be in school or with their parent to receive parental care, love and protection are on the street, on the highways hawking to earn a living or to help their parent.

    Many children had been exposed to sexual act and other anti-social behaviour through this.

    Abused children believe they don’t have values; they cannot affect the world around them hence they angry, dejected and depressed.

    Abused children are likely to experience generalized anxiety, depression, truancy, shame, suicidal and homicidal thought or to engage in criminal activity and promiscuity.