It is no more business as usual for parents and guardians who fail in their parental duties toward towards their children and wards in Delta State as the child right law appears to have taken immediate effect in the state, THEWILL has learnt.
This followed the arrest order issued on Thursday by a Warri Magistrate Court on parents and guardians of some adolescents already in a correctional institution in the state for failing in their parental duties towards their children and wards.
THEWILL learnt that relevant sections of the Delta State Child Rights Law which was signed into law in 2008 had mandated the courts to commit parents and guardians to contribute financially and otherwise to the welfare of a child being looked after by any institution or individual.
Issuing the arrest order on Thursday, the court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Grade 1, E.A. Odjugo (ESQ), asked all police and welfare officers in the state to arrest and bring the concerned parents and guardians before the court with immediate effect.
The court had earlier in the year granted a correctional order to commit 14 juveniles who had been identified as members of a homosexual gay cult to the care of Explosive Academy Independent School (EAIS), Abraka, a private rehabilitation institute for delinquent and exploited minors.
The order granting the committal of the minors to the correctional home, THEWILL has learnt, was pursuant to an application filed by Child Development Officer in Warri South council area, Mrs. Eunice Mebitaghan, noting that the 14 minors, between the ages of 14 and 16, lacked parental control and were exposed to moral and physical dangers.
The minors were reportedly apprehended and arrested by a joint team of officers from the state’s Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development; Warri South council area and officers of the “B” Division of the Warri police Area command in March.
Investigation revealed that following the non-challant attitude of the parents and guardians of the minors to the developments around the welfare of their children and wards, the Child Development Officer of Warri South, on Tuesday, approached the courts again for a warrant of arrest on them.
On receiving the application for the warrant of arrest, the presiding Chief Magistrate granted a warrant of arrest, commanding all police and welfare officers in the state to arrest and bring the concerned parents and guardians before him with immediate effect.
Reacting to the development, the proprietor of Explosive Academy Independent School (EAIS), Ighorhiohwunu Aghogho, who had taken custody of the minors since March 19, 2014, commended the Delta State Government’s decision to sign the Delta State Child Rights Act into law, noting that the law had started taken effect.
He, however, regretted the high level of juvenile delinquency in the state, noting “this is a challenge the state can overcome if the Child Rights Law is properly implemented.”
He urged the state government to come to the aid of the institution to properly care for the minors in its custody.
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