House of Reps moves to penalize child abandonment

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill to criminalize child abandonment in the country.

Rep. Sergius Ogun (PDP-Delta), who sponsored the bill while leading the debate on the floor of the House on Tuesday, said the bill is to impose sanctions on any parents who abandon a new-born baby.

The Bill is titled " A Bill for an Act to Amend the Child Rights Act, Cap. C50, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, seeks

to impose sanctions on any parent who abandons a newly born child and absconds after birth.

Ogun explained that the bill is proposing a punishment of a fine of N200,000 or imprisonment for six months, or both.

"This Bill therefore seeks to specifically make provision within the child right Act against the practice of child abandonment by parents, by introducing a new subsection 3 into the extant section 14 of the act. "

Contributing to the debate, a member from Delta State, Rep. Nicholas Ossai (Delta-PDP), said that though it is the duty of parents to cater for a child, the government also has a duty to complement the duty of parents.

"Imagine a father who has brought a child into the world but has had no work for the past eight years. It is the duty of that government to help that father and the child. "

The bill was thereforereferred to the Committee on Women's Affairs.