State govt vows to punish culprits over maltreatment
Civil society organisations and child rights advocates have condemned the alleged arrest, torture and flogging of street children by officials of the Calabar Urban Development Authority (CUDA) in Cross River State.

The incident occurred on March 19, 2026, and reportedly involved children at Mary Slessor Roundabout in Calabar and their subsequent transportation to the Zoo Garden, where they were subjected to inhumane treatment.

Executive Director of Street Priests, Godwin O’Hara, who spoke in an interview with The Guardian, said his organisation received a distress call from a volunteer alerting them to the operation by the task force.

According to him, he immediately mobilised his team and headed to the scene, where they encountered frightened children fleeing the area who narrated how their peers had been apprehended and taken away.

“We traced the vehicle conveying the children to the Zoo Garden. What we found was disturbing. The children were tied, lying on the ground and crying, while the officials were flogging them with machetes,” O’Hara alleged.

He further claimed that when his team attempted to intervene and identify themselves as a child-focused organisation, they were met with hostility and physical assault by the officials.

“A colleague was slapped, while another was hit in the mouth. It became an altercation, but we ensured the release of five children who had been tied up,” he said.

Reacting to the development, the Child Protection Network (CPN), Cross River State chapter, in a statement, described the alleged actions of CUDA officials as barbaric, unlawful and a gross violation of the Cross River State Child Rights Law, 2023.

The Network said the law expressly prohibits all forms of violence against children and mandates that minors in conflict with the law or in need of care be treated with dignity and due process.

The CPN also condemned the alleged assault on members of staff of Street Priests, describing it as an attack on frontline child rights defenders and a threat to civil society actors working to protect vulnerable children.

“No government agency or official has the right to inflict cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment on children. Such actions undermine the principles of justice, child protection and good governance,” the statement read.

The group, therefore, called on Governor Bassey Otu to order an immediate investigation into the incident and ensure that those responsible are identified and prosecuted.

It also urged the Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Welfare and Community Development to treat the matter as a priority by providing psychosocial support, medical care and rehabilitation for the affected children.

The Network further appealed to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), National Human Rights Commission and other stakeholders to ensure accountability and prevent a recurrence.

The group, however, reiterated its commitment to monitoring the case and enforcing the Child Rights Law, insisting on justice for the victims and an end to impunity against vulnerable children.

At press time, the Executive Secretary of CUDA, Ayi Emola, is yet to respond to the issue despite calls and messages to his telephone number.

Meanwhile, the state government has vowed to punish government its officials that are involved in the recent reported case of gross maltreatment of street children in Calabar.

Wife of the governor, Eyoanwan Otu, who stated this in a statement by her Press Secretary, Faith Okon, in reaction to the purported gross maltreatment meted out to street children by officials of the state’s environmental protection agency, condemned the action, which she described as not only disturbing, but wholly unacceptable as they undermine the fundamental rights and dignity of some of the most vulnerable members of the society.

She said that every child, regardless of any circumstance, deserves protection, compassion and the opportunity to live with dignity.

The statement recalled that as a recipient of a child protection right award in the past, the governor’s wife has consistently demostrated an unwavering commitment to the welfare and protection of children across the state, adding that the recognition further strengthens her resolve to stand as a voice for the voiceless and to ensure that no child is subjected to any abuse.

Otu, therefore, called on all relevant authorities to immediately investigate the allegation and ensure that any official found culpable is held accountable in accordance with the law to serve as a deterrent to other institutions established to protect and serve the people.

The governor’s wife, however, reiterated that her office is actively working with critical stakeholders to develop and implement sustainable, humane and long-term solutions to address the growing concern of children living on the streets.

She said the efforts are geared towards rehabilitation, reintegration, access to education and the provision of social support systems that would secure a better future for every affected child as the life of every child in Cross River State matters.