Say diversion programme key to protecting children’s future
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Bureau of Public Defender (BPD) and Alimosho Local Council have committed to establishing a community rehabilitation programme, otherwise known as a diversion programme for children in conflict with the law, to protect their future and help them become better adults in future.

They made the commitment during a sensitisation programme at the weekend.

Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, Dennis Onoise, who said that children in conflict with the law should not go through prisons or detention, said: “This is a programme that existed in some African countries for quite a while. We started it in Lagos in 2016 and we have had the Mushin Local Council adopt the diversion programme.

“So, we are saying that children who are in detention camps or prisons shouldn’t be there. Anybody who is a child is still being modelled and being told how to do things. They come out of prisons and become deadlier. But we want them to stay in a place where people are trained to bring them up. So, even if they are people you refer to as criminals, by the time they come out after three or four months, they become better people.

“Anybody under the age of 18 years, by the United Nations (UN) definition, is a child. So, you find this category of children who are 12, 13, 14 and 15 years of age sentenced to prison. They are actually sentenced to where they are not going to be trained to be better and that is what we don’t want.”

Also speaking, Director, Office of the Public Defender, Adenike Adesomoju, stated that the goal is for children not to go through the traditional justice system route when they conflict with the law.

“Children in conflict with the law are among the most vulnerable in our societies. They often come from circumstances marked by poverty, neglect, trauma, or lack of supportive family and community structures. Too often, the justice system designed for adults becomes the first responder to issues that fundamentally and socially relate to these children.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of Alimosho Local Council, Akinpelu Johnson, who was excited about the diversion programme, said the council under his watch would commit to setting up and implementing the programme in partnership with critical stakeholders.

He stated that the programme is critical to protecting the children and their future.

Johnson, therefore, said that efforts would be made to institutionalise the programme as it is about giving young children hope and a better future.

He implored UNICEF and BPD to come in constantly to review what they have done to improve their output.