In the last couple of days, the Nigerian social media space was flooded with videos showing a religious setting in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, where about 20 children were displayed naked and whipped, all in the name of spiritual cleansing. The video was purportedly made by dutiful Nigerians in the neighbourhood who resented the events. It was also reported that the Rivers State Police Command swung into action making arrests and rescuing the children held in captivity. The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN), as advocates of children, note that such actions constitute not only a grave legal transgression but also a profound moral failure. PAN believes that any society that tolerates the exposure of children to danger, sacrifices its future on the altar of negligence and indifference, hence, the need to address the incident from the professional perspective. PAN also believes that the obligation to protect children is not negotiable — it is an ethical imperative entrenched in our laws and our conscience.

PAN wishes to thank the members of the community who revealed to the larger world, the ordeal of those innocent children in Obio/Akpor LGA, tucked away in a religious dungeon. We also appreciate the prompt response of the Rivers State Police Command; their prompt intervention saved those children from further abuses and showed that Nigeria is not a banana republic. PAN hereby encourages the Police to pursue the case to a logical conclusion according to the laws of the land.

PAN condemns in the strongest terms, the dehumanization and demoralization of children under whatever guise, be it religious, cultural, or socioeconomic. Stripping children naked in public and whipping them dehumanizes them, assaults them physically and emotionally and put them in the way of preventable harm. PAN acknowledges that such activities amount to reckless violation of the Child Rights Act. In flagrant disregard for the dictates of the Child Rights Act, several millions of Nigerian children are currently out of school, are victims of dysfunctional family systems and are prone to various forms of assault, injuries, abuses and exploitations, across the land. All these ultimately curtail their prospects of productive and impactful adulthood.

Those children could have been better protected if the government had implemented in full force, the rights of children to life, dignity, recreation, and protection from exploitation, as stipulated in the Child Rights Act. The public needs to be reminded that children less than 18 years of age are minors and by law, do not have religious leanings or commitments and should not be influenced or made to practice a religion, let alone, religious activities that are inimical to their well being.

PAN is also not oblivious of the role of family socioeconomic vulnerability, as a likely push factor in the Rivers State event. This is another reason to reiterate our call for family empowerment as a panacea for most social maladies. Therefore, PAN calls upon the relevant arms and units of government saddled with the various responsibilities geared towards family empowerment, to wake up to their duties. In addition, neighborhoods are charged to watch out for the well being of children and see it as a social responsibility to protect children from harm and make efforts to stop activities, events, be it social, religious or cultural, that may put children in the way of harm.

Further, PAN is calling on state governments to, as a matter of urgency, put machineries in place to implement the Child Rights Act in their domains, beyond rhetorical domestication of the law. Enforcement is key hence, parents and the general public need to be enlightened about the provisions of this law and resources should also be deployed for effective surveillance purposes.

In conclusion, PAN wishes to encourage every adult to appoint self as a Child Rights Ambassador to serve posterity and contribute to the betterment of our collective future.

Long Live the Nigerian Child.
Long Live the Paediatric Association of Nigeria.
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.