Kidnaps: Parents must ensure maximum security of children
Local governments should appoint secretary for children affairs at respective levels to help coordinate issues pertaining to the welfare and protection of children within their localities. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Local governments should also scale up awareness creation on violence against children both in schools and communities through strategic interventions such as music, dance and drama to mitigate incidents of child exploitation and abuse in the communities.
- NCA also reminds the general public, particularly the children, to call the government Tollfree child-helpline on 116 in case of child abuse.
It is not uncommon to read or watch in the media reports of murders and kidnaps in the country. Victims of abuse, particularly of young girls, including children, have been killed or gone missing from their parents only for their bodies to be discovered later.
The story, ‘3 killed, more kidnapped in central region’, in a local daily of May 23, indicated that three people, including two toddlers, were killed and two others went missing in what is believed to be a continuation of the kidnaps and murders that have gripped the country in recent times.
In context of such unfortunate incidents, the general public, particularly the parents, ought to ensure maximum security of their families, especially the children given their vulnerability to abuse. Children should be reminded by their parents that they should not move alone, especially in isolated places or at night.
They should also avoid going to public entertainment places unaccompanied because kidnappers take advantage of such places.
Also as the second school term opens on Monday, parents should ensure that children going back to, especially boarding school, are escorted and handed over to the school authority for security purposes.
The National Children Authority (NCA) would also want to remind school management committees to introduce and or strengthen existing child protection monitoring mechanisms to ensure maximum protection of students against abuse as they commute from home to school and back.
Local governments should appoint secretary for children affairs at respective levels to help coordinate issues pertaining to the welfare and protection of children within their localities.
Local governments should also scale up awareness creation on violence against children both in schools and communities through strategic interventions such as music, dance and drama to mitigate incidents of child exploitation and abuse in the communities.
NCA also reminds the general public, particularly the children, to call the government Tollfree child-helpline on 116 in case of child abuse.
