The Lagos State Government has called on parents to monitor their children, during the long holiday, saying there is going to be an increase in the rate of child molestation, sexual abuse and rape.
The Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr Agboola Dabiri, made the call on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ meeting with owners of day care centres in the state in Ikeja.
He said, “Some people are in the habit of using the school holiday period to perpetuate evil against schoolchildren; so beware.”
Dabiri also said the government prioritised the welfare of children and recognised the roles played by owners of crèches and day care centres in nurturing children for the challenges of tomorrow.
Dabiri stated that the government was aware of the proliferation of different day care centres and crèches, saying they posed a threat to the activities of trained and certified operators.
He said, “Soon, their activities will be checkmated to give a chance to only certified and trained persons to operate crèches and day care centres.”
He added there was the need for day care centres and crèches to register with the government in order to standardise their operations.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, said the theme of the meeting, “Towards Achieving Best Practices in Early Childhood Care in Lagos State, was in line with the executive order on child protection.
The Director of Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mrs Ronke Odeneye, urged owners of crèches and day care centres to be aware of the legal implications of their operations.
Source: Punch
