The Federal Government on Monday said it will prosecute 634 child labour offenders for the crimes allegedly committed between 2018 and 2019.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this during a workshop for media practitioners on child labour reporting and presentation of the National Advocacy Strategy on the Elimination of Child Labour in Abuja.
A statement by the ministry’s spokesman, Charles Akpan, stated that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, which co-ordinates the National Committee on Child Labour, has achieved a lot since 2013.
The achievements, according to the statement, include the development of the National Policy on Child Labour, the National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour and the Development and Validation of the National Reporting Template on Child Labour.
Ngige noted that the state Labour Offices reported 5,401 and 3,937 child labour infractions in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
According to him, 1,494 and 1,278 victims and their families have been empowered in 2018 and 2019 respectively, while 287 and 342 offenders were being prosecuted.
The minister emphasised that a good advocacy strategy and effective child labour reporting was very important in the attainment of ‘Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals’ which seeks to eliminate child labour, especially its worst forms by 2025.
Ngige also recalled that the Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in supply chains in Africa, tagged ACCEL Africa Project, was launched in Nigeria on 2nd May 2019 in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation through the support of the Government of Netherlands.
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