No fewer than 180 children in Akwa Ibom State that were branded witches and sent away from their home have been reunited with their families after going through rehabilitation processes at the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRRAN) at Eket Local Government area of the state.
The Executive Director of CRRAN, Mr. Sam Itauma disclosed this at a two-day Media Advocacy for the Protection of Children by UNICEF for media drawn from Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River and Enugu States.
Despite the Child Rights Act signed into law by the state government, he regretted that a cross section of people in the state are still feigning ignorance of the law as children are still being maltreated and branded with all forms of negative names.
Recently, Itauma said he was invited to rescue a baby thrown into a pit of soldier ants while a 4-year-old child was strangled to death after being branded as a witch by the parents.
He thanked the media for being pro-active on issues affecting children as well as UNICEF for its numerous programmes for child survival, development and protection.
A Child Protection Specialist of UNICEF, Barr. Nneka Oguagha in her paper titled: “Building a
Protective Environment for Children: Protecting Children from Violence, Abuse and Exploitation,” stressed the need for the provision of protective environment for children.
“A protective environment is one where every one children, governments, health workers and private sectors live up to their responsibilities to ensure that children are protected from abuse and exploitation”, she explained.
Aug292009