The Senate at its plenary session of Tuesday, 6 March 2018 mandated its Committees on Health, Women Affairs and Youth Development to investigate the sudden and disturbing rise in the rate of child labour, molestation and abuse in Nigeria.
Presenting the motion titled “Urgent need to stop the increasing rate Child Labour, Molestation and Abuse in Nigeria” Sen. Benjamin Uwajumogu (APC: Imo) expressed concern over the recent data published by the National Bureau of Statistics which shows that 50.8% of Nigerian children between the ages of 5 and 17 years are engaged in child labour depriving them the opportunity of good education.
Sen. Uwajumogu informed lawmakers that over 50% of the Nigerian children experience various forms of domestic violence from their caregivers and described such inhuman treatment outrightly violating Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) that states that “ the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the government”.
The Senate further urged the Minister of Women Affairs to embark on measures that would address violations of children’s right.
