CHILD LABOUR WORRISOME IN BENUE – STAKEHOLDERS

Our correspondent reports that the stakeholders called on all hands to be on deck to nip the ugly trend in the bud shortly after the presentation of the latest MICS survey report in Makurdi.

The report indicates that Benue stands at 37 per cent in child labour, a figure which ranks the state highest in the menace in the North Central and above the national percentage as disclosed by the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), which on the other hand noted that child mortality has dropped in Benue State.

Maureen Zubie-Okolo, UNICEF’s Monitoring Specialist, Enugu Field Office, made the disclosure at a one-day meeting of the Benue State Planning Commission in collaboration with UNICEF on the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and the National Immunisation Coverage Survey (NICS).

Our correspondent recalls that Gloria Iveren Bai, the NAPTIP Zonal Commander of Makurdi, handed several of warnings during arrests of human traffickers and rescue of children being trafficked from Benue to other parts of the country for child labour.