Kogi govt rescues 29 abandoned babies

The Kogi State Government said it has rescued 39 abandoned children from across various parts of the state over the past three years.

The State’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Bolanle disclosed this yesterday in Lokoja at the opening of a three-day training programme on Child Safety and Protection for social welfare workers across the state, organized by the ministry in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria, with participation of Behavioural Change Initiative in Development (PIBCID).

The commissioner decried cases of abandonment of children and child abuse in the state, and noted that the training was aimed at enhancing the capacity of social welfare workers and staff of the Ministry of Women Affairs in responding professionally to issues of safety and protection of children.

She said the ministry had over the past three years successfully prosecuted 15 people involved in various cases of child abuse such as early marriage and violence-related abuse, adding that other cases are ongoing at the Family Court.

The Commissioner explained that babies rescued by the ministry are usually attended to and kept in orphanage homes, where members of the public could adopt them after fulfilling laid down conditions for child adoption.

She debunked a recent allegation that the ministry sold an abandoned rescued child from Otikiti area of Lokoja at N1 million, and explained that the mother of the said baby had expressed lack of interest in the baby, which informed the decision of the ministry to keep the child to guarantee its safety and protection.