A 40-year-old man raped a 4-year-old girl to death in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The officials of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other stakeholders in the protection of the rights of the child made the shocking discovery on Tuesday, September 1, 2015.
The heart-chilling discovery was made by the State Coordinator of Child Protection Network, CPN, Mrs. Mariam Kombo-Ezeh at a stakeholders meeting organized by the state government in collaboration with CPN, with the support of UNICEF, Enugu Field Office.
Kombo-Ezeh also revealed two other cases of child abuse, which occurred in the state, including the death of a seven-year-old girl of complications from HIV/AIDS after being raped and infected by a man, and another 13-year-old girl gang-raped in Yenagoa, according to Vanguard.
The coordinator who spoke on Advocacy Engagement with Policy Makers on Domestication of Child Right Act, observed the spate of child abuse and inhuman treatments in the state.
She said: “It is pathetic and the cases are on the high side. There is the need for speedy passage of the bill on Child Rights into Law.”
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Ms. Nengi Rufus-Spiff, said the present administration was shocked by the revelations and would never support child abuse under any guise.
According to her, children in Bayelsa State will be properly protected under the proposed Bill, adding “the parents too should rise to the realities of training the boy-child to respect the girl-child. It is a thing of regret to know that the rate of such abuses is high.”
The Chief Field Officer of UNICEF, Enugu office, Mr. Nwanaka Chude Onwurah, who was represented by Charles Nzuki, lauded the state government on the existing policies on the protection and welfare of the children of the state.
