Zulum signs child protection bill into law

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, on Monday, signed the child rights protection bill into law.

According to NAN, Zulum also assented to the violence against persons prohibition (VAPP) Act.

He approved both bills at a ceremony held the government house in Maiduguri, the Borno capital.

The child protection bill was enacted in 2003 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to protect the rights of children in Nigeria.

The VAPP bill was passed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls in the country.

As of November 2021, a total of 27 states had signed the child protection bill.

Speaking at the ceremony on Monday, the governor said the laws were domesticated to conform with the practices in the state.

On his part, Kuka-Sanda Lawan, commissioner for justice in the state, said the laws would protect the rights of children especially in the areas of parental care and education.

Borno is the 29th state in Nigeria to sign the child protection bill into law, while other states yet to domesticate the bill include Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe and Adamawa.

Meanwhile, with Borno signing the VAPP act, 16 states — most of which are in the north — are yet to pass the bill into law.

Adamawa, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Kogi, Plateau, Imo and Rivers states have passed the VAPP bill at the houses of assembly and are awaiting executive assent, while Gombe, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and Cross River are yet to pass the law at the assembly level.