Nigerian women have decried the constant missing of girls from their schools, describing the recent abduction of about 200 girls from a government secondary school in Chibok, Maidugiri, as “highly condemnable”.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, stated this at the weekend during the inauguration ceremony of the National Joint Taskforce for the prevention of child sexual abuse, and violence against children in Nigeria.
According to Maina, children have become targets by terrorists and perpetrators of immoral act, adding that the recent abduction of girls is a clear demonstration of the extent of violence against children.
The minister noted that violence against children has a devastating physical, emotional and psychological consequence on them, hence the need for a multi-stakeholder taskforce on child sexual abuse, and violence against children.
In her welcome address the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Habiba Muda Lawal, said the need to establish a NJT for the prevention of child sexual abuse and violence against children was as a result of the increase in rape, child defilement and baby farming.
