From Enyinna Omoke, Abakaliki
In a bid to stop child abuse in Ebonyi state,Wife of the State governor, Mrs Mary-Muadline Uzoamaka Ogbonna Nwifuru says any Ebonyi under-aged child given out of the State for either domestic services, trafficking or other abuses will be intercepted and parents of such child would be arrested and prosecuted in according to the law.
Mrs Nwifuru disclosed this during a Community Sensitization on the rights of Ebonyi Children, child trafficking, street hawking, gender based violence and other forms of child abuse at Women Development Centre, Abakaliki.
The Governor’s wife was speaking on the backdrop that Ebonyi children have been grossly abused in various forms and their rights denied over the years.
She said the present administration of her husband, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru was ready to create an enabling environment for every Ebonyi child to thrive and would no longer tolerate abuses on them.
Mrs Nwifuru said her office would do all within its reach including sponsorship of bills at the State House of Assembly to wrestle down issues of gender based violence, child maltreatment, child trafficking and other abuses meted out to children, women and men in the society.
While calling on Council Chairmen, Traditional Rulers and other stakeholders to partner her office in fighting the menace, Mrs Nwifuru enjoined mothers to watch the activities of their children in terms of dressing, peer groups and general behavior so as to curtail social vices in the society.
The State Deputy Governor, Princess Patricia Obila thanked the Governor’s wife and the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for coming up with such program and noted that the focus of the sensitization was in tandem with the manifesto presented by the State Governor during the 2023 electioneering campaigns.
The Deputy Governor who appealed to the Governor’s wife to step up the sensitization program to local levels announced her readiness to support with fund any local government that would replicate same in their area.
In their sperate remarks, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Felicia Nwamkpuma and the Chairman of the occasion and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr Uchenna Igwe highlighted the target of the program and expressed the hope that the sensitization would go a long way in addressing issues of gender based violence, child trafficking and other abuses in the State.
In goodwill messages from the Nigerian Police represented by Mr Chris Anyanwu, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps represented by Mrs Nneka Akam and the traditional institution represented by Eze Sunday Oketa assured of their collaboration of the Governor’s wife in their areas of calling.
There were lectures by Resource Persons on Gender Based Violence, Child Trafficking, Street Hawking/Begging and the religious point of view on the ills of Gender Based Violence/Child Trafficking.
The event featured presentation of envelopes containing undisclosed amounts of money to selected victims of various forms of abuses by wife of the Governor.
