Kaduna State has been selected as one of the pilot states for the European Union and UNICEF project on ensuring that vulnerable children get access to justice.
The UNICEF Kaduna Chief Field officer, Dr Zakari Adam, disclosed this at a strategic meeting of stakeholders on access to justice and the inauguration of the state’s justice for children’s forum.
He said official statistics of children deprived of liberty is lacking in Nigeria but explained that evidence of detention of children as first resort for very minor offences such as hawking, trespass, stealing among other offences exists.
According to him, a rapid assessment conducted in 12 states at the onset of COVID-19 in 2020 discovered over 600 children in various correctional centres were detained with adults and majority at pre-trial stages.
Represented by Child Protection Specialist for UNICEF, Dr Wilfred Mama said in most instances, these children are kept on locked facilities without resort to any judicial orders thus negating the notion that human rights are children’s rights as well.
He said Kaduna State is one of the pilot states in Nigeria for the three-year project based on a regional partnership signed between EU and UNICEF in Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania and Burkina Faso.
Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Human Services and Social Development in the state, Stephen Joseph, said the age of children targeted was 17 below, adding that the forum will work assiduously to ensure the implantation of the Child Right Act and the child welfare and protection law in the state.
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