A nongovernmental organisation, Child Protection Network (CPN) has called on parents and governments across all tiers to protect children from abuse, neglect violence and exploitation.
The group made the call on Tuesday, in Osogbo, during a Peace Gathering organised to enlighten the public on child abuse and its effects.
While speaking, the group’s state coordinator, Titilayo Odetayo, said the gathering was called nationwide to raise awareness about the menace of child abuse.
She said nonchalance attitude about the plight of Nigerian children and neglect of earlier calls to protect them resulted in exploitation of some children in the country.
Odetayo said the group came out to preach against the menace and to sensitise parents as well as the general public to its dangers.
“We do a lot of sensitisation because most of the children are ignorant of their rights and some parents too do not know the Child Rights Act or what it contains.
“Some grandmas are using their grandchildren to make money by giving them goods to hawk on the streets; some of these grandparents have turned their grandchildren to money making machines.
“We are begging the government to plan for the less privileged children by creating policies to cater for them. There is need to reduce hawking by children”, she said.
Odetayo warned that punishment for abuse of children are severe and that violators of children’s rights were in for a rough ride with the law.
The legal adviser to the group, Mr Ayoola Olusegun, explained that CPN’s major role was to oversee the welfare of children and ensure their rights were protected.
She decried the rate at which children are currently being abused at home and in school, with many of them sustaining injuries and some dying in the process.
Olusegun also noted that since the inauguration of the state chapter of the Network in Osun, the body had won not less than 300 cases of child abuse.
She said: “What we are talking about is provided for in our laws and all children should know about it. Our gathering here is to enlighten the public of the existence of laws and to inform them that violators of the law when caught will face the wrath of the law”.
The group, while pushing for a safer and more conducive environment for every Nigerian child to thrive, also called on philanthropists to join in the efforts to eradicate child abuse in the country.
Dominica Nwabufo
