By Ephraim Emmanuel
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to completing the ongoing review of the Child Rights Act to strengthen child protection frameworks and ensure equal access to justice across the country.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, gave the assurance while addressing journalists following a plenary session titled “Justice Beyond Limits: A Child’s Right to Justice Must Not Depend on Income, Location or Chance” at the ongoing 66th Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.
Highlighting the crisis within the juvenile justice system, the Minister disclosed alarming statistics regarding children in detention across Nigeria.
“In Nigeria, about 26,000 children enter custodial and remand facilities every single year. Out of 122,000, 74 percent wait in pretrial detention without a timely hearing opportunity, and some 68 percent have no lawyer from their first contact with the law,” Sulaiman-Ibrahim stated.
To address these systemic gaps, the Minister revealed that her ministry has validated 40 legal instruments, operational guidelines, and policy frameworks aimed at standardizing child protection and juvenile justice administration nationwide.
She challenged the NBA, law enforcement agencies, and legal practitioners to step up implementation efforts, calling on the legal community to establish a dedicated pro bono child justice network to defend indigent minors.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim also urged parents to remain calm and support the national child-welfare agenda, emphasizing that effective child protection and moral upbringing must begin at home.
