By Asma’u Ahmad
Over 60 per cent of Nigerian children suffered sexual, physical and other kinds of violence in the society, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
A Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF, Bauchi Field Office, Ms. Ladi Alabi, made the disclosure during her advocacy visit to the Jos Zonal Office of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Alabi said: “Statistics has it that 60 per cent of Nigerian children suffer some forms of violence; meaning that, six out of every 10 Nigerian children experience some kind of violence.
“Half of all children in Nigeria experience physical violence, and one in four girls and one in 10 boys experiences sexual violence. Also, one in six girls and one in five boys suffers emotional violence from parents, caregivers or adult relatives.”
The child protection specialist added that majority of the children that experience physical, sexual or emotional violence in childhood mostly report multiple incidents.
She said girls were significantly affected most when it comes to sexual and physical violence than other combination of violence, while boys suffer emotional and physical violence most.
Ms. Alabi explained that the figures were drawn from the Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC) in 2014.
She said that the national survey was supported technically by UNICEF, Nigeria, and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among others.
Newsmen reports that formal launch of the action plan would hold on September 29 in the state.
