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| L-R Justice Omolade Awope, Mrs Bola Tinubu, Ms Kate Henshaw and Mrs Bisi Ajayi-Kayode at the graduation in Lagos. |
LAGOS - An advocacy group against child abuse, Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre, has trained stakeholders on child forensic interviews to boost child protection efforts in Nigeria.
The training in partnership with Zero Abuse Project took place on Friday in Lagos.
The Chief Executive Officer of the centre, Ms Detutu Ajibodu, described the training as a transformative force that would equip professionals with specialised skills for the delicate task of conducting sensitive and effective forensic interviews with children.
“As the first academy on the continent, we take pride in setting a precedent that will echo across borders, inspring others to join the mission of creating safer spaces for children in Africa.
“Child abuse cases often present unique challenges including under reporting, high attrition rates and difficulties in investigation and prosecution.
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“Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre is committed to addressing these challenges by introducing forensic interviewing into Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
“Forensic interviews conducted by trained professionals in a developmentally sensitive manner, serve to gather crucial information, while minimising the risk of contamination and re-victimisation,” Ajibodu said.
Also speaking, Mr Jeff Dion the Chief Executive Officer, Zero Abuse Project, said children were the most vulnerable members of the society.
According to him, forensic interview gives room to get information from children even when they are not speaking out.
The Founder of the centre, Mrs Bola Tinubu, said that over 19 million Nigerian children experience sexual violence before the age of 18.
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Tinubu said the expected outcome of the training was to ensure a child friendly justice system with the aim of improving access to justice for children by actualising their best interests in all cases.
She added that the training would increase the confidence of the citizenry in the justice system of child abuse cases.
Tinubu described child sexual abuse as a pandemic problem that had been normalised.
“The more you make people accountable, the more the menace reduces in our society.
“That is why the graduation of 30 certified child forensic interviewers is so important because children speak louder even in their silence.
“With this, we can get the evidences to ensure that justice is served very quickly, perpetrators are prosecuted very successfully.
“The more we, as professional interviewers, allow children to testify and tell their stories in court, the more I believe justice will be served for children who have been sexually abused,” she said.
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Tinubu said the partnership with Zero Abuse Project underscored shared commitment to enhancing child protection efforts in Nigeria.
A Nigerian actress, Ms Kate Henshaw, said the centre had set a milestone that would give voice to a voiceless African child who had been sexually abused.
Henshaw said the event was a ground breaking one as the foundation aimed to make every child in Africa free and safe from sexual abuse.
The Chief Operations and Chief Legal officer of the Cece Yara, Mrs Bisi Ajayi-Kayode, said that the high rate of sexual abuse in Nigeria inspired the adoption of the forensic interview.
Ajayi-Kayode, who is also a child forensic interviewer, said that child forensic interview was the best practice all over the world in investigating and prosecuting sexual abuse cases.
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