FG to establish body to protect senior citizens

The federal government will establish a volunteer squad to protect senior citizens from abuses by members of the public.

The Director-General of the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), Emem Omokaro, announcement this yesterday.

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Omokaro was speaking at an interview session of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

She said the squad would intervene in cases of abuse of senior citizens by some unscrupulous members of the society.

She named some of the abuses being faced by senior citizens to include verbal abuse, emotional abuse, financial, care-giver abuse and abuse by family members.

She said establishment of the squad had become imperative, noting that it was heartless for anyone to maltreat an elderly person.

Omokaro said the NSCC had received many reports of senior citizens abuse and that the volunteer squad was created to tackle the problem.

“One in nine of older persons face abuse. From research findings, old persons are some of the most abused people when we talk about verbal abuse, emotional abuse and financial abuse.” (NAN)