Members of civil society organisations in Kaduna state have appealed to Governor Nasir el-Rufai to assent to the Child Welfare and Protection Bill since passed into law by the Kaduna state House of Assembly. This is coming even as the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) Kaduna office are collaborating to sensitise the people of the state before the law was signed by the Governor.
The law, which was domesticated to protect the welfare and safety of children in the state, was already on ground before elRufai assumed office as the governor of Kaduna state, but he dusted it up and sent it to the state assembly as executive bills in 2016. The bill was passed into law by the state assembly on February 7, this year, awaiting the governor’s assent.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after a stakeholders’ meeting organised by a nongovernmental organisation, YouthHubAfrica, supported by Malala Fund, the representative of Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative, Malam Abass Shehu, hinged the Governor’s delay in assenting to the law on the need to fine-tune the law. Chairperson, Federation of Women Lawyers in Kaduna, Barrister Bukola Ajao, harped on the need to embark on massive awareness and sensitisation campaign to capture children and women who are the most vulnerable especially those at grassroots.
“A visit to the places where there are no schools, where those bad gangs lay in wait for the girls to molest them and even rape them. Mothers too should be in the picture of what happens to their children daily especially, girls. We also need to address the problem of loosing homes while law enforcement agents should equally step up their game,” she said.
