YENAGOA— OFFICIALS
of United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and other stakeholders in the protection
of the rights of the child were shocked, yesterday, to hear of the case of a
40-year-old man that raped a four-year-old girl to death in Southern Ijaw Local
Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The revelation was made by the State
Coordinator of Child Protection Network, CPN, Mrs. Mariam Kombo-Ezeh.
She also revealed two other cases of
child abuse, which occurred in the state, including the death of a
seven-year-old girl of complications from HIV/AIDS after being raped and
infected by a man, and another 13-year-old girl gang-raped in Yenagoa, the
state capital.
Speaking on Advocacy Engagement with Policy Makers on Domestication of Child Right
Act in Bayelsa, Mrs. Kombo-Eze said cases of child abuse and inhuman
treatments were on the rise in the state.
She said: “It is pathetic and the cases
are on the high side. There is the need for speedy passage of the bill on Child
Rights into Law.”
In her speech at the stakeholders
meeting organized by the state government in collaboration with CPN, with the
support of UNICEF, Enugu Field Office, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs
and Social Development, Ms. Nengi Rufus-Spiff, said the present administration
was shocked by the revelations and would never support child abuse under any
guise.
According to her, children in Bayelsa
State will be properly protected under the proposed Bill, adding “the parents
too should rise to the realities of training the boy-child to respect the
girl-child. It is a thing of regret to know that the rate of such abuses is
high.”
In her message at the event, Chief
Field Officer of UNICEF, Enugu office, Mr. Nwanaka Chude Onwurah, commended the
state government on the existing policies on the protection and welfare of
Bayelsa children.
Onwurah, who was represented by Charles
Nzuki, expressed optimism that the Child Right Bill would soon be passed into
law in Bayelsa.
Report By,
Emem Idio
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