AT LAST: Kaduna assembly passes child protection bill into law, awaits El-Rufai’s assent
ABOUT two years of rigorous scrutiny, criticism and debates, the Kaduna State House of Assembly has eventually passed into law the Child Protection bill aimed at protecting the welfare and safety of children in the State, Speaker of the House, Alhaji Aminu Shagali has said.
The bill though was already on ground before the emergence of the 22nd Governor of the State, Nasir El-Rufai, he dusted it up and made it an executive bill in 2016.
Since then, a lot has been heard about the bill but the civil society, the media and the State’s Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development have not relented in their pursuit to make the bill a reality.
With the passage of this bill into law, children in the state now have unhindered access to right to education and all that. The law will also ensure justice in case of violation of their rights to quality life including rape, torture, force marriage, trafficking among others. It was one of the best laws the state has made in recent times.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after passage of the bill into law on Wednesday, Chairman, House Committee on Women and Social Development, Haliru Gambo Dangana said, the aim of the law is to curb the atrocities committed in the State through child trafficking which has become a money making venture for most people.
“Most People do not respect children anymore especially the infants as they keep abusing them. People that suppose to protect and cater for them are the ones selling them. But with the passage of the bill into law, it will be curtailed to the barest minimum.
The Law cited as Child Welfare and Protection Law 2018 recommends that “notwithstanding any enactment or rules of law to the contrary, reliable medical, scientific or other physical electronic evidence of rape shall be sufficient to secure a conviction, consequently the prosecution and the court may dispense with the consent to trial and oral testimony of a parent or of the child victim.
The good people of the state however urged the governor to quickly ascent to the law for prompt implementation.
POSTED BY EDITOR