Lagos- Two Lagos-based lawyers, Messrs Fatai Adeniji and Ola Ogunbiyi, on Sunday called for adequate punishment for child abuse in Nigeria.
The lawyers urged relevant agencies of government to strictly enforce laws against child abuse to check the vice.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that increasing cases of child abuse had shown the importance of Child Rights Act and the need to properly protect the rights of children.
Mr Fatai Adeniji of the Adedeji Adeniji Chambers, Yaba, Lagos, noted that child abuse included rape, molestation and child labour.
He said that rape or sexual abuse of children from nine years old to 16 years old were two times higher than that of the adult population
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“Nurturing the girl-child is not the responsibility of government alone but all stakeholders.
“Government and its security agencies need to create a safe environment that will protect children from various forms of abuse,” Adeniji said.
Mr Ola Ogunbiyi of the Ola Ogunbiyi Chambers, Abulenla, Ebute Meta, told NAN that governments should build a safe environment and remove all forms of violence.
He said that children with emotional and behavioural disorders had a high tendency to drop out of school.
Ogunbiyi urged the Lagos State Government to adequately enforce its Child Rights Law enacted 2011.
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“The state government should be more proactive and protect children from being abused,” he said.
He called on states yet to have a child right law to so urgently to protect their children.
“We need to build our tomorrow if we want to improve our quality of life,’’ he said. (NAN)
