C’River govt alleges cartel behind children on the streets

The Government of Cross River has alleged that cartel is behind the high number of children loitering the streets of Calabar and other parts of the state.

The government however declared to unmask and put an end to the unwholesome activity that have placed the state in a negative a spot light.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Edema Irom made the allegation in Calabar on Tuesday during a a press briefing as part of activity to mark this year’s International Day for the Boy Child.

She noted that the cartel were also frustrating efforts of the government in rehabilitating these children.

She, however, said that Gov. Bassey Otu led said administration is committed to a comprehensive rehabilitation progrmme to guarantee a bright future for the children.

According to her, “It is the responsibility of the government to protect these children against all forms of molestations and exploitations carried out by cartel exploiting these children for their selfish motives.

“There is a cartel behind some of these children who derive benefit by keeping them on the streets. This is inhuman.

“They give them different names other than their real names to conceal their identity as part of the indoctrination process intended to paint the streets as a comfort zone.

” We will approach the issue headlong with our strategy to crack the cartel and take the children off the streets.

“It wil be an all inclusive strategy and we are going to be very deliberate in handling the issue.”

On the forthcoming celebration of the International Day of the Boy Child, National Children’s Day and Day of the African child, she said they are very significant as children are the leaders of today.

She said, “It is our responsibility to also protect the boy child against all kinds of violence, exploitations and molestations as they are vulnerable to physical, sexual, emotional violence and others’, she said.

She also promised that the present administration will work hard to improve on the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey as released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The Commissioner also demanded more support in educational advancement, nutritional value among others from development partners.

Irom assured that the present administration of the state will not renege in her responsibility to create the enabling environment including the provision of high quality education and nutritional supplement for every child in the state to succeed.

She, however, noted that the government cannot do it alone, hence, the need for effective collaboration with development partners, especially in the areas of education, nutrition, health, social protection among others.