The Gombe State Children’s Parliament has appealed to the State Government to domesticate the Child’s Rights Act in the state without much delay.
Umar Farouk, Speaker of the parliament said this when he spoke with pressmen in Gombe on Monday.
Farouk said that the non-domestication of the act was frustrating efforts at ensuring the protection of children in the state.
He said although government had shown some commitment toward domesticating the act, more practical steps needed to be taken to ensure its domestication.
“Commitments are not enough as they cannot provide the legal framework to protect children in the state, this is because there is no alternative to the domestication of the act,’’ he said.
Farouk decried increased rate of rape and other abuses on children in the state, saying that the perpetrators were aware that the present laws were inadequate to give appropriate punishment, hence the increased abuse.
“In Gombe, we are still talking about domestication when other states are discussing implementation of the law; Kebbi State recently domesticated theirs; so why can’t Gombe?
“Rape and child labour especially in the farms are on the rise; except we have this law in place, the story of children’s protection in the state will not change for the better.
“We are in the wet season, just go to communities even in Akko here and see how children are being used as child labourers in farms when they are supposed to be in school,’’ he said.
Farouk while commending the efforts of stakeholders in the state toward the domestication of the act, appealed to them to continue to mount pressure on government for eventual domestication of the act.(NAN)