Between January and last month, the government of Lagos State recorded 2,506 cases of child abuse.
The Commissioner of Youths and Social Development, Olusegun Dawodu, stated this in Alausa, Ikeja, during a sensitisation campaign to end violence against children.
He warned those using children for alms-begging to desist from the act as government was ready to arrest anyone caught in the act
According to him, of the 2,506 reported cases, child abuse has 389 cases of sexual abuse, 46 physical abuses, 26 sexual abuses, 26 domestic violence, 28 child neglects and 38 child abandonments.
He added that there were eight lost but found children, 18 trafficked children, three children given out for adoption, eight multiple abuse cases and 82 cases of children in need of shelter.
“A total number of legal advices issued were 332, 95 judgments, 1110 cases of sexual offences pending in court and defilement cases pending in family court 36, among others.”
Dawodu, who decried the rate of child abuse in the state, said there were guidelines for sentencing, noting that punishment for sexual offenders is life imprisonment.
“These figures are not acceptable in the state. We cannot imagine our children being abused or defiled; every parent worry about their children, seek to protect and show them love. We as a government will do the responsibility of enforcement, but we need your support on information because that is what we need to act on.”
He noted that to address child abuse in the state, the state government has family social service officers in local government Areas across the state who work together with the communities and Community Development Associations.
