The Kogi State Government has vowed to smoke out and make life unbearable for all syndicates involved in the business of kidnapping, sale, abuse and molestation of children.
The Kogi State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Fatima Kabir Buba made the vow on Thursday at the inauguration of the 5th Kogi State Children’s Parliament held at the government house.
Buba said the ministry is collaborating with relevant stakeholders to ensure maximum protection of children in the state adding that, anyone caught engaging children in criminal acts will face the full wrath of the law.
She emphasized that by ratifying, domesticating and implementing the Child Rights Law in Kogi State, the rate of abuse of children on daily basis will be at its minimal level while justice will be served against the offenders of the law.
The Commissioner said, “The law they say, is not a respecter of anybody no matter how large the horn of a cow is, it is the head of the same cow that must carry it. Hence, as a government, we have all it takes to ensure the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of all forms of child abuse in our society. We shall not abdicate our responsibility in this regard.
“As a custodian ministry, we have a duty to help secure the future of our children. We owe them fidelity. We would not relent on our oars unless and until we have secured an enabling environment for their growth, survival, protection, participation and development, ‘this is our vow’.
“Children deserve protection and by their nature, they lack the physical, mental and emotional maturity required to face daily challenges of life. This is why the type of rights used to guard and protect adults cannot be used to protect children because their needs are different from that of adults, Hence, the creation of the Child Right Act (CRA)”.
“Whatever treatment given to a child, the consequence of your action might not be visible now but somehow it lingers as it affects that child later in life or as the child grows. An abused, neglected and maltreated child will see life from a perspective different from a child who was trained in the right way and shown the better ways to handle life”.
While giving an overview of the Nigerian Children parliament, the Director Child Development, Kogi State ministry of Women affairs and social development Mrs Folashade Olaniyan said no group deserves greater attention than the country’s estimated 72 million children.
Olaniyan noted that there is an enormous improvement in the reception of government to the plight of Children, adding that, a lot of efforts have been made through setting up of legal frameworks, institutional arrangements which translate the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child into reality and to ensure its effective and practical implementation.
