A bill seeking to criminalise the abandonment of newly born babies by parents with a penalty of 6 months jail term, has been passed for second reading at the House of Representatives.
Sponsored by Hon. Sergius Ogun, the bill titled, “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Child Rights Act, Cap. C50, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to impose sanction on any parent who abandons a newborn child and absconds after birth, and for Related Matters (HB. 1442),”
In the lead debate on the general principle of the bill at plenary, Ogun said the bill craved a minor amendment of the child’s right act to stop parents from abandoning their child after delivery.
He said a new sub-section 3 would be introduced into the extant section 14 of the principal Act, explaining that the new sub-section will stipulate that a parent who abandons a child at the time or place of his birth, shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction be liable to a fine of two hundred thousand naira or imprisonment for 6 months or both.
He said “Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting a new subsection (3) immediately after the subsisting subsection (2), as follows: (3) Subject to the provisions of this Act, no child shall be abandoned at the time or place of his birth, the conditions of his birth notwithstanding- Where a parent abandons a child at the time or place of his birth, he shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction be liable to a fine of two hundred thousand naira or imprisonment for six months or to both such term and imprisonment. I plead everyone to support this bill for it to scale through second reading.”
In his contribution to the bill, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai also supported the bill.
“I support this bill, I further add that it’s the duty of parents who have brought children to the world to care for them. But at the same time government has to also complement the duty of parents. Every person must contribute to society. We have social security in USA. Whereby you are not working and you are not able to take care of your child, social security is there. It is in that principle that majority of our northern states are yet to domesticate this law, this law must have a human face”, he said.
But in his remarks, the Deputy Speaker Hon. Idris Wase, who presided over the session countered Ossai on the domestication of the bill, saying he veered off from the current debate.
The bill was later put to a voice vote where a majority of the lawmakers supported it through second reading.