He said, “We call on Governor Ugwuanyi to give express accent to this bill and commence mechanisms necessary for the implementation of the law. It will ensure that several issues hindering the protection of rights of children, such as children living on streets, children affected by communal conflicts, drug abuse, human trafficking and the weakness of the juvenile justice system will be addressed.”
The Aflatoun Child Rights Cooperative project is funded by the European Union, and implemented by Linking the Youth of Nigeria through Exchange, and SOS Children’s Village Nigeria with additional support from Aflatoun International, SOS Children’s Village Nigeria and the UBA Foundation.
The chairman, House Committee on Gender Affairs, represented by Mrs Nwafor Perpetual, said, “The passage will ensure an end to child abuses in the state. It is then left for the society to be the watchdog, and report abuses to enforcement authorities.”
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The partnership and outreach officer of Lynx Nigeria, Ayokunnu Babarinde, regretted that elders who ought to protect children rather abuse them. “Children should defend their rights to become tomorrow’s leaders. They will be sensitized on how to demand their rights non-violently,” he said.
A represented of the National Orientation Agency, Mrs Adaobi Nwoye, thanked the House for the passage, and assured that NOA would drive the message to the grassroots.
Mr Chukwu Nwabueze, from the National Human Rights Commission, urged the public to report abuses to the agency for proper action. He said the NHC had been in the forefront of prosecuting human rights abuses. He said if the bill is signed into law, the commission would ensure proper prosecution of offenders.
Twenty-four states have signed the Act into law.