The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other participants at the Nigeria Bar Association Conference (AGC) in Enugu have urged NBA to institute a framework that will strengthen the law, improve the situation of children in detention and promote child justice in Nigeria.
This was after the moderator of “the end detention of child season”, Uchenna Emereonye and the lead discussant, Uju Agomoh Executive Director PRAWA, separately gave evidence and statistics of Nigeria children deprived of liberty and the role of NBA in ending arbitrary detention of children in Nigeria.
They said that Nigeria is ranked among top three countries in the world that has the highest number of children in detention and the worst is that those children are detained where they are not supposed to be; in the same cell with adults which is completely against the law.
She said that “the existing laws on the right of Nigeria child should be fully implemented for continued efforts to improve the situation of children in detention and promote child justice in Nigeria.”
“The number of children in detention, awaiting trial in Nigeria is unacceptable. And the question is how can the Bar help to stop this abuse of our children? How can the Bar stand tall in ending child detention in Nigeria?”
Agomoh, a renowned Health Practitioner and Human Right Advocate, presented statistics from a national survey supported by UNICEF, indicating the number of young persons in detention as alarming and unacceptable and that about 70% lacks access to legal representation.
She reminded the NBA of the Nigerian Correctional Services Act 2019 that requires Custodial Centres to refuse admittance of offenders not meant for their facilities.
The session, she said, aims at exploring the best ways to ensure compliance with legal provisions and improve the situation of children in detention, hence the need for a better enforcement of provisions and enhance the role of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in advocating for child justice.
She announced that only three Borstal Institutions are functional in the whole country where every state supposed to have one, and asked where are those children that go against the law in the other 29 States are kept.
She emphasised on the role of the NBA in raising awareness and advocating for child justice and also calling for specialised training for lawyers handling child justice cases.
(Business Day)
