A High Court judge, Theresa Obot, has urged the Akwa Ibom Government to establish a reliable database and stronger monitoring system for children in alternative care, warning that gaps in tracking vulnerable children could expose them to abuse and exploitation.
A judge of the Akwa Ibom State High Court, Theresa Obot, has called on the state government to establish a comprehensive database of children in alternative care and regularly monitor their welfare to prevent abuse and exploitation.
Alternative care for children refers to the care and protection provided to a child who cannot, temporarily or permanently, live safely with their biological or usual family.
It includes arrangements such as kinship care, foster care, guardianship, family-based care, and, where necessary, residential or institutional care. The primary aim is to ensure that the child has a safe, stable, supportive and nurturing environment while their rights and development are protected.
The conference, themed “Mobilising Families for Alternative Care of Vulnerable Children,” also marked the fifth anniversary of the Street Mentors Network.
Speaking on “Every Child Deserves a Safe Family: The Law, Our Responsibility and the Way Forward,” the judge said the absence of reliable data on children in alternative care posed a major protection risk.
“There is no data on how many children are in alternative care, hence there is a threat that so many things can happen to them,” she said.
Ms Obot said alternative care arrangements must be properly structured, adding that the government should be intentional about documenting children placed in alternative care and following up regularly to ascertain their welfare.
She also called for a change in how law enforcement agencies handle children, alleging that some officers sometimes manipulate children’s ages to enable their detention in correctional facilities.
“I have had situations where police increase the age of a child to put them in prison so that they are not put in alternative care,” she said.
Ms Obot commended the Akwa Ibom State Government for enacting the Child Rights Law in 2008, saying the legislation provides a framework for protecting children from abuse and exploitation and for addressing family disputes involving children.
She said the state was probably the only state in Nigeria with a law expressly prohibiting the branding of a child as a witch or wizard.
The judge said the justice system must place the safety, stability, dignity, belonging and development of children at the centre of family-related cases.
“The question before a Family Court is what environment will allow this child to become whole?” she said.
Ms Obot said family preservation should not mean maintaining a harmful environment for a child, just as separation should not automatically become the first response where safety could be achieved through support, protection and rehabilitation.
She noted that family disputes often come before courts as conflicts between adults, including husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, guardians and parents or relatives.
“But beneath the pleadings is often a child living the consequences of the dispute,” she said.
According to her, children caught in such disputes may experience emotional trauma, domestic violence, neglect, parental alienation, poverty, disruption to their education, sexual abuse, physical punishment, abandonment, trafficking and exploitation.
She said they may also lose contact with parents or siblings or experience repeated movement between homes.
She called on Family Courts to ensure that the interests of children do not disappear beneath legal contests between adults.
Ms Obot said children should not be treated as the property of either parent, adding that custody should not be used as a reward or an instrument for punishing one parent.
“The child is not the property of either parent. Custody is not a prize. Access is not a favour. Maintenance is not charity.
“And the child must not become the instrument through which one parent punishes another,” she said.
She said courts, when determining the best interests of a child, should consider the child’s physical safety, emotional wellbeing, education, healthcare, nutrition, relationships with parents and siblings, and the stability of the proposed living arrangement.
The judge also highlighted domestic violence as a major concern, noting that a child does not have to be physically assaulted to be harmed by violence in the home.
She said a child who repeatedly witnesses violence could experience fear, anxiety, emotional insecurity, disrupted schooling and behavioural difficulties.
Ms Obot called on members of the public who witness the abuse of children to report to the police or approach the Family Court.
She said members of the public could be guided on the appropriate steps to take and that the court could record complaints and issue restraining orders where necessary.
She said the challenge was no longer simply the enactment of laws, but ensuring that legal protections translated into actual safety for children.
She identified effective laws, competent courts, child-sensitive procedures, responsible parents, effective social services, professional lawyers, responsive government and protective communities as necessary components of a functional child protection system.
