Lagos – A child rights activist, Mr Taiwo Akinlami, on Wednesday called for urgent stakeholders’ dialogue on the safety of children in both private and public schools in Lagos State.
Akinlami told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that this was imperative following the recent abduction of three schoolgirls at Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School, Ikorodu.
NAN reports that the students abducted from their classroom on the night of Feb. 29 by gunmen, were later rescued by a team of policemen led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, on March 6 at about 9.45 a.m.
Akinlami said, “Incessant kidnappings and abductions of children and the general insecurity within the school system have thrown up security and safety issues that we cannot continue to ignore.
“The goal of the dialogue will be to review the state of security and safety of our children within the private and the public-school system from the perspectives of all stakeholders.
“Stakeholders will also set up a committee of professionals, child protection and security experts with a clear mandate to develop a universal-child protection and security policy.
“It will also recommend minimum preventive security and safety requirements which every institution of learning in the state must adhere to within a specified, but reasonable time-frame or face stiff sanctions.
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“It will also state the support roles of the regulatory bodies in helping both the private and public schools to apply themselves to the minimum preventive security and safety measures,” he said.
The activist said that awareness creation among stakeholders on child protection issues would be the beginning of intervention to end violence against children in Nigeria.
Akinlami said, “Purposeful awareness creation will empower the primary and secondary caregivers to become conscious of the need for protection of children.
“The more we create awareness among our children and their primary and secondary caregivers, the more we accelerate the mission to end violence against children.
“Accelerated awareness will create `Social Policing’, where everyone knows the rights of a Nigerian child.
“And, we are ready to defend the rights through prevention of abuse and worst case scenario; early response, where the child has been abused.”
Akinlami said that the responsibility of every caregiver to a child was to protect him or her by putting in place credible and professional measures by both parents and caregivers.
According to him, such responsibility is to ensure the safety of our precious children, who are placed under our care by God.
“Protection of children from violence is a huge possibility, because violence against children is preventable.
“Therefore, we must all take responsibility for the protection of our children, knowing that they are the future of this nation,” he said. (NAN)