Tina Amanda
The International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA Rivers State, has called on the public to stop bearing children that they can not care for as it is an offence which attracts 3-5 years imprisonment under the Child Right Act and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law to neglect or abandon a child.
The Chairperson of FIDA Rivers, Adata Bio-Briggs, who made the call while sensitizing the people of the Ogoloma community in Okrika local government area of the state, lamented the increase in child abuse and teenage crime which she attributed to poor parental care and training.
She emphasized that poor education, failure to provide the necessary support, and neglect among others cause children to indulge in illicit acts due to so much negative influence in the society.
Bio-Briggs further noted that FIDA is all out to ensure caregivers, parents and guardians who fail to provide basic necessaries or educate their children would be made to face the rot of the law.
“Under the Child Right Law, every child is entitled to education up to Senior Secondary in Rivers State. It’s compulsory that parents, caregivers, relations, and whoever they live with to ensure they are properly educated, we have a lot of children who are out in the street, some children do not know they’re left from right.
“Parent needs to sit down and train their children and not leave them to the hands of teachers or the public to train. You can not abandon a child be it your biological, relation whoever the child is, the Law provides that you must care for and provide for the child
“The society is to be blamed because the children see those who have committed one crime or the other being honoured and celebrated in the nation, they those into fraudulent activities having so much money and they get attracted to it.
“There are lots of outside influences that have gotten into the mindset of children which have caused the great increase in crime, they see things on the internet, social media, videos and it influences them negatively”.
However, the people of the Ogoloma community in the Okrika local government area, thanked FIDA for the sensitization program while urging them not to relent in their campaign of educating the people of the Rivers communities on their rights.
Some of them frowned at the recent behaviours of young males and females who co-habit amongst themselves and bear children without out proper marriage or sure means to fend for the children.
