The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Child Rights Act

  • ‘Rape incidents alarming, under-reported’

    Dr Kemi Ademola-Aremu, a Gender Activist, on Wednesday incidents of rape are alarming and under-reported in the country.

    She also described as worrisome the non-availability of correct statistics on rape cases in Oyo State.

    Ademola-Aremu, the Executive Director, Choice Solution Welfare Initiative International (CSWII), made this known to our reporter in Ibadan.

    She noted that rape incidences were underreported despite its high prevalence in Oyo state.

    She said that in spite of the hues and cries about rape and other acts of domestic violence against the girl-child and women, possible stigmatisation had prevented victims from reporting their ordeals.

    “Because of the stigma placed on the victims it had become increasingly difficult to come out and report rape cases.

    “Even when cases are reported to relevant government agencies, such are not bothered to document them.

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    “The government, hospitals, police and other stakeholders should be more proactive in reporting and documenting rape cases.

    “Kudos should be given to the Federal Government for promulgating the Child Rights Act of 2003, which many states of the federation have domesticated.

    “But a lot still needs to be done in the area of getting required and effective statistics on rape incidences,” the director said.

    According to her, in the US, they use a formula to calculate rape incidence based on the reported cases and they came up with a statistics of “one in five’’.

    She said that such formula could be used by stakeholders in Nigeria, adding that there is urgent need to create such statistics.

    Ademola-Aremu disclosed that her NGO had started generation of data on rape and would soon publish same.

    She appealed to all stakeholders to collaborate on efforts to report rape incidents and in generating relevant data for record purposes.

  • 57 arrested for child labor, abuse in Niger

    57 arrested for child labor, abuse in Niger

    Fifty Seven people have been arrested for child labor, child abuse, unexplained withdrawal of children from school and criminal abduction of children in Niger state.

    The Legal officer of the Niger state Ministry of Education, Barrister Fatima Mohammed disclosed this to The Nation Thursday.

    According to her, 27 have been charged to court and have been convicted while the remaining 30 cases are still pending.

    Fatima who is the Principal State Counsel in the state Ministry of Justice stated that most of the crimes were perpetuated by the parents of the children disclosing that only two are teachers.

    She said that the crimes were committed in Agaie, Bida and Chanchaga local government area of the state.

    The Legal Counsel stated the determination of the state Ministry of education to ensure that no child in the state is denied education especially with the passage of the Child Rights Act.

    She then disclosed that the Ministry has set up mechanisms to put a stop of withdrawal of children from schools by parents without any cogent reason.

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  • Osun rallies support for Child Rights Act

    Osun rallies support for Child Rights Act

    The Osun government on Wednesday called on parents, volunteers, non-governmental organisations and security agencies to assist  in ensuring successful implementation of  the Child Rights Law.

    The Director of Press and  Public Relations in the State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Dapo Ajayi, made the call in Ede at a training programme organised by National Orientation Agency for community volunteers.

    Ajayi, who said the state domesticated the Child Rights Act and passed it into law, warned that it was now illegal for the rights of children  to be abused.

    “Abusing the rights of children must be stopped forthwith because offenders would be arrested  and prosecuted,’’ he said.

    He called on residents to ensure that children were stopped from hawking goods on the streets during school hours while  their  use as house help at a tender age should be discouraged.

    Ajayi said  government was  committed to the welfare of children, adding that this informed  the provision of state-of-art school buildings and one meal per day for all children in  public elementary schools.

    He  called on parents and guardians as well as community volunteers to pay attention to  children and monitor their activities in order to prevent them from physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

    Ajayi also  called on community  leaders to evolve  communal action that would check  child abuse.

  • UNICEF seeks Child Rights Act adoption by states

    ·FCT, Kano mark day with campaigns to end violence against children

    UNICEF has called for the adoption of the Child Rights Act in all  states in the country.

    It made the call in a message during the Children’s Day at the weekend.

    At the moment, only 24 states have adopted the Act.

    With this year’s theme: Child protection and the Sustainable Development Goals, it urged Nigerians to heed the President’s call to end violence against children, noting that millions of children suffer physical, emotional or sexual violence.

    According to a 2014 survey by the National Population Commission, with support from UNICEF and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, six out of 10 children experience at least one of these violence before they reach 18.

    “Each one of us is responsible for creating a world where children feel safe, protected and empowered to speak up for themselves,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, using Nigerian Children’s Day as an opportunity to highlight the prevalence of violence against children in the country and measures needed to address it.

    “In line with the Sustainable Development Goal to end all forms of violence against children by 2030, Nigeria has launched a Campaign to End Violence Against Children by 2030, which reinforces the Presidential call to end such violence first made in September 2015. Since 2015, Lagos, Cross River, Benue and Plateau states have launched state-wide campaigns.

    ‘’The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kano State marked the day by launching their campaigns to end violence against children; Gombe State will launch its version on June 7. To drive the implementation of the national campaign, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is working with key government partners, civil society and faith-based organisations to develop a National Plan of Action that will set targets and milestones to end violence against children in Nigeria by 2030,” it was learnt.

    UNICEF praised Nigeria’s national and state governments’ efforts to reduce violence and exploitation of children, saying it has recognised Nigeria as a Global Pathfinder in the battle to combat violence against children.

    Nigeria adopted the National Child Rights Act in 2003 to domesticate the international Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, so far, Child Rights Acts have been passed in only 24 states, with Enugu being the most recent to enact the law in last December.

    “We call on the state assemblies of the remaining 12 states to urgently pass Child Rights bills and on governors to sign those bills into law. We also call on governors of the 29 states who have not yet launched state-level campaigns to end violence against children to do so. And even while we increase our commitments to protect children’s rights,” said Mohamed Fall,’’ he said, adding: “We must work even harder to make these rights a reality for children in Nigeria.”

     

  • Court adjourns reverend father’s rape case until May 25

    A Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama on Wednesday adjourned until May 25 to commence hearing in a case of rape of a minor brought against a reverend father, Anthony Ochigbo.

    The case which is being tried by Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf was adjourned after the prosecuting counsel, Mr John Ijagbemi, wrote the court asking for adjournment.

    Ijagbemi said he was attending another court for a different case.

    The court had sometime in November 2016 adopted the bail condition given to Ochigbo earlier in another court.

    The counsel told the court that Ochigbo, 44, of Catholic Church of Assumption, Asokoro, Abuja, on Aug. 15, 2016 allegedly abused a 10-year-old girl sexually.

    He said Ochigbo had an unlawful sexual intercourse with her in the church which contravened  Sections 31 (1) and 32(2) of the Child Rights Act, 2003.

    Ochigbo was earlier arraigned before Justice Olukayode Adeniyi on Aug. 30, 2016 during courts’ vacation.

    Adeniyi granted him a N2 million bail with two sureties, who must be civil servants not below Grade Level 14.

    In addition, he said the sureties must be reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

  • Akeredolu’s wife urges Child Rights Act implementation

    The Wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty Akeredolu, said she would partner with relevant institutions in advocating the implementation of the Child Rights Act.

    Akeredolu said this on Thursday in Akure in a message to the 10th Anniversary of the enactment of the Ondo State Child Rights Law.

    The governor’s wife was represented by the Wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Ajewole Ajayi.

    She urged all stakeholders across the state to assist the government in protecting the rights of the child physically, emotionally and psychologically from any form of abuse.

    Akeredolu said that anyone caught using children for immoral purposes, hawking, and trafficking would be sanctioned and prosecuted in the Family Court.

    She appreciated the late Ondo State Gov., Dr Olusegun Agagu, for signing the Child’s Rights Act into law.

    Akeredolu noted that the Act specified the rights of the child, duties of parents, government and care-givers.

    “Ondo State Government, in recent years, has rendered services in consonance with the Child Rights Act, aimed at enabling every child to develop his or her talent and potential in a climate of peace, equality, and respect for human dignity.

    “The present administration will strengthen its effort toward partnering with Non-Governmental Organisations, law enforcement agencies, community leaders, religious institutions as well as the media to advocate for the rights of the child in Ondo State,” she said.

    In a remark, the Director, Child Department, Women Affairs and Social Development, Mr Oluwaniyi Ogunleye, said the Child Rights Act was enacted in the state on March 23, 2007, to protect the rights of children and assist them to develop and become responsible adults.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that awards were presented to people who contributed to the enactment of the law, including a posthumous award to the late Agagu.

     

  • Making nonsense of Child Rights Act

    Making nonsense of Child Rights Act

    IN August 2015, a 13-year-old girl, Ese Rita Oruru, was abducted from Bayelsa State by Yunusa Dahiru and taken to Kano State and forcibly married. The ensuing national outrage finally compelled the police, government and emirate council to wash their hands off the case and the girl returned to her family, albeit pregnant. The case is now in court, the abductor admitted to bail, and the girl, who is now with child, languishing in police ‘custody’, unable to further her education or live a life. The most pathetic thing about the Ese Oruru case was the abysmal subservience of the Kano State police command to the abductor and all those who connived at the obnoxious practice of paedophilia and child marriage.

    Because the Kano case was badly handled and no example made of anyone other than the misguided Mallam Dahiru, a similar case has been enacted in Katsina. Another 14-year-old Christian girl, Habiba Isiyaku Tanko, was on August 16 abducted by one Jamilu Lawal from Kudun Kankara local government area of Katsina State and married off with the blessing of the Katsina emirate council. The case has also become controversial, with the girl’s distraught parents crying foul and asking for her return. Reports indicate that the emirate council is complicit, and the police pathetic, with the state police commissioner offering platitudes and admonitions and refusing to carry out the necessary arrests.

    In 2010, a Zamfara senator and former governor, Ahmed Sani, who carries the title of Yerima, married a 14-year-old Egyptian girl thereby courting national ridicule. He claims his religion permits the act, especially because the Nigerian constitution does not spell out a minimum age for marriage. Zamfara, like 12 other states, has refused to domesticate the 2003 Child Rights Act that establishes 18 years as the minimum marriage age.

    One of the consequences of the obnoxious practice of child marriage is the unacceptably high incidence of obstetric fistula in the country. It is estimated that the majority of the 2.5m women living with obstetric fistula reside in Nigeria, particularly northern Nigeria. This is humiliating. Only 24 states have domesticated the Child Rights Act. In addition, there are apparently national lawmakers who see nothing wrong in marrying children. So, apart from grappling with political divisions, Nigeria must also deal with ossifying cultural divisions. If the abducted Habiba and Ese Oruru were not Christians, their stories would perhaps not have been heard, implying that the incidence of child marriage may probably be much and sickeningly higher than reported. It is time to reaffirm the Child Rights Act and make examples of paedophiles, no matter how highly placed.

  • Girl Child Day: FIDA wants gender offenders prosecuted

    The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) on Tuesday called for proper prosecution of offenders of sexual and gender based crimes to serve as deterrence.

    Mrs Chioma Onyenucheya-Uko, Assistant Public Relation Officer, FIDA, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja as the world marks this year’s International Girl Child Day.

    She said that punishing offenders would encourage victims of such crimes to report and speak out, adding that this will bring an end to stigmatisation.

    Onyenucheya called on the Nigerian Police to always conduct thorough investigations in order to unearth culprits behind such dastardly crime.

    She said that violence and abuse could affect a child’s development, dignity, physical and psychological integrity; hence culprits must be punished to eliminate such crimes in the society.

    NAN reports that the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) provides for the prosecution of such offenders.

    She called on the appropriate authorities to implement such provisions of the Act in dealing with perpetrators.

    “The provisions of the Act are rich and if adequately used will punish offenders and deter the-would be offenders.

    “The Act captures a broad array of offences that are related to violence, whether physical, social, emotional or psychological,’’ the spokesperson said.

    According to her, the Act addresses the issue of gender based violence, women being harassed, the issue of rape and generally issues militating against the rights of women and girls.

    Onyenucheya-Uko said that every girl child was entitled to education as stipulated in the Child Rights Act, and urged parents and guardians to ensure that children get safely to school.

    Besides, she called on the government to ensure that all schools were protected from all forms of vices such as theft, kidnapping and sexual abuse, among others.

    “These girls have rights to education and the education for our girl child should not be denied; but the action of Boko Haram insurgents denied our girls their rights to education.

    “The government at all levels should provide security for schools across the country in order to protect the students,’’ she said.

    According to her, the girl child should not be treated less from the boy and community should see a girl child as having potential to be great.

    The spokesperson said that no meaningful development could take place if the issue of girl child education was not factored into national development processes.

  • Kaduna to domesticate Child Rights Act

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday said the government will soon domesticate the Child Rights Act to protect girls and give them fair chances of self-realization.

    The governor said this during an event organized to commemorate the 2016 World Population Day, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    El Rufai, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Barnabas Bantex, said the bill has been forwarded to the state Assembly for passage.

    He said: “We cannot deny that teenage girls in the country, especially in the north are facing issues detrimental to their wellbeing.

    “Issues ranging from forced marriages, early motherhood, sexual abuse, gender discrimination and lack of access to education and prompt justice.

    “In response to this, we are strengthening our justice system to speedily respond and tackle cases of rape and other forms of violence and abuse against the girl child.’’

    The governor reiterated his administration’s willingness to invest in the development of teenage girls, stressing that the state would continue to invest massively in the education of children.

    “Just recently, the state’s House of Assembly passed an executive bill that gives every child access to nine-year free and compulsory basic education.

    “When this bill fully comes into operation at the commencement of the next academic calendar in September, parents that refused to send their children to school will face the law,” he added.

     

  • Reps to review domestication of Child Rights Act 

    Reps to review domestication of Child Rights Act 

    Bayelsa State caucus in the House of Representatives has said the full weight of the law must be applied on all those involved in the abduction14 year old Ese Orusu from Bayelsa State.

    Diri Duoye, Sodaguno Festus-Omoni and Fred Agbedi said they are determined to work with other lawmakers and stakeholders in the review and domestication of the Child Rights Act.

    According to Diri Duoye, Sodaguno Festus-Omoni and Fred Agbedi, who condemned the action of the abductor, Yunusa and his accomplices, the full weight of the law must be applied on all those involved in the abduction.

    According to Diri Duoye, the caucus was not aware of the case until it was brought into the public knowledge by the media and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) but  swung into action that culminated in the eventual  release of the girl to her parent by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase.

    He said: “We just came back from the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase.

    “We were still in his office when it was confirmed to him (IGP) over the phone that his men have arrived at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport,  Abuja with the girl and her parent on their way to Bayelsa.

    “We were told by the IGP that the abductor is already in police custody.

    “We condemn the kidnap and seek for justice for all those connected with it.”

    While commending the efforts of the media and the Civil Society Organizations (CSO), the caucus said it is determined to work with all stakeholders towards a review and domestication of the Child Rights Act by States.

    According to the caucus, implementation of laws should be the focus as it remains the most effective tool for deterring people from acts of criminality.

    The caucus also appealed to the Federal government and security agencies to address kidnappings in Bayelsa State.

    The lawmakers said kidnap has become almost a daily occurrence in the State with its attendant negative consequences.