Taking the campaign against sexual abuse to school kids

Catch them young is what Twin and I Child Care Foundation seems to be targeting by taking the campaign against child sexual abuse to primary and secondary school kids in Nigeria.
The campaign, which began in select primary and secondary schools in Abuja and Nasarawa State seeks to attack child sexual abuse incidences in Nigeria and encourage abused kids to always speak up.
Hajiya Aisha M. U. Tokura, the founder/CEO of Twin and I Child Care Foundation told our reporter that child sexual abuse (CSA) cases are rising and only a coordinated effort can tame the scourge.
The NGO is partnering with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Youth Reformation Centre (YRC) on the project.
“We’ve done a programme on ‘stop child sexual abuse’ in some select schools in Abuja. The programme took place at LEA primary school Kuruduma and New Capital School, Asokoro. Some other schools will follow as the campaign progresses,” she said.
“We are targeting about 15 schools in the FCT and neighbouring Nasarawa State in the first round of campaigns,” she said.
She said the engagements with the kids is about “enlightenment about child sexual abuses and to tell them how to prevent it from happening. In that process, we also discuss child trafficking and how to stop it. The idea is that children do not feel compelled or forced to do something they don’t want to do or taken somewhere to be maltreated.”
“We are also encouraging them to speak out when abused. We realised in the schools that some of the students are afraid to talk. So to encourage the students to talk, in each school we visit, we set up clubs so it’s easy for the students to come to us and tell us what is happening with them,” Hajiya Aisha said.
“With the clubs, we are also hoping to build an army of educators on child sexual abuse among the students so they can educate their fellow students,” she explained further.
She said rehabilitation is also part of the effort that Twin and I Child Care Foundation is concerned about.
 “We are creating awareness but we are also trying to identify the ones that have been abused in schools so we can counsel them and see how we can mitigate the damage the child abuse has done to their psyche,” she added.
Mr. Jona Ukpai, the Chief Investigation Officer of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), said the agency is partnering with the NGO to deepen the war against child sexual abuse and trafficking.
He said incidents of child trafficking, abuse and sexual abuse are quite high in Nigeria which is why the agency is always carrying out awareness campaigns.
He said: “The students have excitedly received our messages and they showed great interest.”
Also speaking, Margaret Udoh, the founder, Youth Reformation Centre (YRC) and coordinator, National Council of Child Rights Abuse of Nigeria, said that with this effort, Twin and I Foundation is critical at this time.
She advocates for stricter sanctions for child sexual abuse offenders.
“Child sexual abuse is one of those crimes that should have stricter penalties in Nigeria. It has a lot of incidences like child marriage and all that,” she said.
The Nigerian representative in West Africa and African Union Child Rights Organisation also said Nigeria is one of the 194 countries of the UN that signed the Convention to the Rights and Welfare of the Child on 20th Nov. 1989 which has become the Universal Child Rights Day.
She explained that the convention sets out 54 articles, and two optional protocols. The articles, she said, gives children the right to survival; the right to develop to the fullest; right to protection from harmful influences and abuse and exploitation and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.
The four core principles of the conventions, she said, are: non-discrimination, devotion to the best interest of the child, right to life, survival and development and respect of the views of the child.
She went further to explain that the protocols restrict the involvement of children in military conflict and prohibits the sale of the child, child prostitution and child pornography.
About 150 states have signed this. Nigeria signed in 2003 and only 22 states in the federation have adopted and rectified it but implementation isn’t 100 per cent she noted.
“If you see the part three of the Child Rights Act. Protection of the rights of the child, no person under the age of 18 should be married. Anyone who marries or supports the marrying of a child less than 18 years is liable to N500,000 or five years imprisonment. Any person who buys, sells, hires, disposes or obtains a child is liable to 10 years imprisonment. Anybody that has sexual intercourse with a child under 18, with or without the consent of the child is taken as rape regardless of whether you know the age or not. The penalty is life imprisonment without any other option,” she explained.
This background is necessary so you can appreciate the essence of the campaign she says. Child sexual abuse is sexually abusing a child from 0-17 years she noted.
“Children must report sexual abuse. Most times the perpetrators threaten them that they will kill them if they report them but we are telling the children, no one will kill them. Besides, someone that will be in jail for life won’t be out there killing,” she noted.