The United Nations Children’s Fund and Lagos State government have cautioned the police and judges across the nation on the need to put an end to the conviction of children who are found conflicting with the law.
Addressing journalists during the unveiling of a newly piloted programme by Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development in collaboration with a rehabilitation home, Grace Spring Rehabilitation Home, the state government and UNICEF noted that punishing child offenders is an offence against the law, which must be stopped.
It was also said that offending children are meant to be referred to rehabilitation homes where they will be privileged to access behavioural correction for the benefit of their society against the practice of making them face punishment.
A UNICEF Child Justice consultant at the programme, Dr. Wilfred Mammah, noted that “a high number of offending children languishes in Nigeria prisons, hence a quick need for programmes to forestall such occurrences and divert offending children for rehabilitation.”
Speaking on the Community Rehabilitation Programme, which was intended to prevent children from offending and re-offending, Wilfred said, UNICEF, having realised the importance of children in the development of every society, is in support of the state government alongside Grace Spring Rehabilitation home on the programme.
The Lagos state Ministry of Youth and Social Development, noted that the community rehabilitation programme provides police with an option to take children in conflict with the law through, instead of the criminal justice system.
Mr Yakubu Jubril, a Chief Social Welfare Officer with the ministry, maintained that “the programme is planned to have offending children referred from various referrals such as police, prosecutors, family court judges and magistrate, social welfare officers at LGAs, court assessors and others, rehabilitated instead of being punished.”
Meanwhile, the coordinator of Grace Spring Rehabilitation Home, Mrs Lara Odubote, said the community rehabilitation programme is an alternative to traditional measures and punishment, such as the trial process, corporal punishment and custodial sentences.
She added that the programme focuses on addressing root causes of offences and preventing re-offending by working closely with children and their family.
On where the programme was piloted in the State, Odubote said, “The community rehabilitation programme is piloted in Mushin and Ilupeju local government areas, adding that the areas were selected due to their proximity to Kosofe local government where UNICEF is piloting a child protection system strengthening model.”
The coordinators of the community rehabilitation programme, however, called on the media across the state for adequate partnership for successful execution of the programme in Lagos state.
The programme also featured suggestions from the media on adequate publicity of the initiative.
