Children’s Day: How Will This 12 Year Old Amputee Celebrate?

It is children’s Day today, what kind of celebration would that make for this 12 year old amputee?

The question is germane given the fullness of life that comes from having one’s all body parts intact, but not so for the child simply identified as Adamu from Gombe State.

Simply identified as Adamu, he has both hands chopped off allegedly for phone theft, in Akko Local Government Area of the state.

The question on the lips of some who have seen the pitiable picture that his amputation evokes, is how he would be feeling today, children’s Day?

Children’s Day: Gombe NBA decries 12-year-old’s amputation over phone theft

The same question appears to reverberate in the minds of the Vice Chairperson, of the Nigerian Bar Association, Gombe Branch, Mwalin Abdu, who has been reported by Punch as decrying the amputation

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’She actually issued a statement titled “Protecting our future: Urgent action needed on child protection in Gombe State” in commemoration of the 2024 Children’s Day.

Abdu, doubles as Chairperson, the Human Rights Committee NBA, and now implores the relevant authorities to implement the child protection law, to tackle issues of children abuse.

According to her, it is a social problem that would require concerted efforts to tame.

“In 2018, we woke up to the story of young Zubair Abubakar (13 years old), whose arms were amputated because of the abuse by his teacher, just four days ago was another devastating story of 12-year-old Adamu from Tumu District in Akko LG of same Gombe State who also lost his arms due to similar incident with Zubair Abubakar, over alleged theft of phone.

“Even though the office of the Attorney General has taken over the prosecution of the cases, we believe that is not enough, because these two stories are just a tip of the iceberg of the numerous daily reported and unreported complaints or cases of child abuse in the state, ranging from sexual abuse, child labour, child molestation, child trafficking and so on.”

“The heartbreaking tales of young victims like Zubair Abubakar and Adamu from Gombe State underscore a troubling reality: child abuse remains a pervasive issue in our communities, transcending mere headlines to expose the harsh realities faced by our most vulnerable members”, she stated.

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The Eagle reports that children’s Days a popular global celebration usually marked with a number of activities depending on the country in question.

It was first proclaimed as International Children’s Day in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare, but its celebration usually provides opportunity to reflect on the quality of life of children.

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