14th December, 2019
Sokoto state government has called for public support towards enactment of the children protection law.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state’s Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are working with community groups and other stakeholders toward domesticating the law to suit the state.
At the 2-day engagement which ended on Saturday, participants discussed various issues relating to religion and cultural beliefs of some sections of the child rights law.
Three Islamic scholars, Dr Aminu Sufi, Dr Jabir Maihula and Uztaz Umar Bagarawa, presented resolutions reached on the use of DNA on child paternity issues outside statue laws provided by Islamic Shari’ah laws.
The scholars along with other participants also agreed on punishments of a child which should not be harmful to the child.
Scholars said it is permissible in Islamic history to look at prevailing societal ills and suggest modern and relevant measures to tackle them.
Director of Shari’a in Sokoto State Ministry of Religious Affairs, Imam Muhammad Maigero, said the effort would ensure suitable legislation to protect the children and encourage its implementation.
Maigero said the state’s by-laws on children education and parental supports designed according to beliefs and cultural practices were incorporated into the draft.