57 persons convicted of various forms of child abuse in Niger state

Niger state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has said  it has  reveived about 57 reports of child abuses including; child labour, criminal abduction, rape, forced marriage and sexual abuses contrary to Child Rights law of the  state between the 29th of May, 2015 till date.

The ministry stated further that it has been able to secure convictions  for 27 of such cases at different law courts in the state.

And among the cases was the case involving a former Vice Principal, Government  Day Secondary School, Tunga , Minna,  Mallam Mohammed Mohammed, who is standing trial for impregnating his 16-year-old Junior Secondary School female student, Faith Galadima, said to have been  on suspension and have been placed on 50 percent salary slash pending the determination of the suit against him.

This disclosure was made  by the Permanent Secretary,  Niger State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Yahaya Garba on Wednesday in Minna  while briefing newsmen  on the achievements and activities of the ministry in the past two years.

The briefing by the ministry was coming on the heels of wild condemnations over alleged shielding of the randy Vice Principal of GDSS who impregnated one of his students and is placed on half salary and suspended  as a punishment for abusing a minor.

The victim, Faith Galadima, was as at the time of her sexual abuse around March this year, living with a friend of the Vice Principal as an house help.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that while in the said friend’s’ house, the embattled
Vice Principal frequents the house where he sexually abused Miss Faith Galadima, thereby resulting in pregnancy.

Further checks revealed that Faith Galadima, who is currently staying with her parents in her village, Injita, in Munya Local Government of the state had to drop out of school following perceived stigmatization and with the support of the state’s Child Rights Protection Agency and family, after which she  successfully managed and was recently delivered of a baby boy.

Against the backdrops of wide condemnations of the ministry’s poor handling of the abuse
of minor by a Vice Principal which has discouraged parents from sending their children to public schools, in the state, the Permanent Secretary said the ministry of education was handicapped in taking further actions against the Vice Principal, Mohammed Mohammed because the case was still pending in the court.

Meanwhile stakeholders in  the state’s education sector has called on Niger state government to come up with a more stringent measures that will gurantee safety of pupils, particularly the girl child to end increased cases abuse by Heads of schools and lecturers/teachers.

Also, the Director-General,  Niger State Child Rights Protection Agency, Barrister Mariam Haruna  Kolo in her contributions at the  media briefing argued that, milder punishments to child abuse suspects would rather increase instead of discouraging school heads and teachers from molesting pupils.

She said, “placing the Vice Principal on half salary while he remained suspended is not enough punishment for the offence committed, by him.

She further argued that putting the accused on half salary on monthly basis was not enough punishment to end child abuse among school teachers in parts of the state.

She therefore suggested that the state government should set up a committee that would monitor public and even private schools in the state in order  to ensure that policies meant for the good of children of school age were judiciously utilized while also ensuring close monitoring of facilities therein.