The founder of the Akhin Foundation for Homeless Youngsters, Israel Balogun, made the call during a train tour with some rehabilitated teenagers on Friday.
Balogun said beyond the full enforcement of the law, members require a joint effort of the community to tackle the menace headlong.
He said, “Every one of us needs to come together to start condemning child labour in our communities and to demand that the government makes the Child Rights Act effective by ensuring that no child is subjected to labour and that no child is exploited and used as a slave.
“Also, individuals who are using these children in our communities need to be continually prosecuted. And this can only happen when the government takes stringent measures against them through the instrument of the law.”
While speaking on the train ride, he said most of the children were taken from the streets while the trip was part of the exposure tours initiated by the organisation to give them a sense of belonging.
“These are children we took from the streets. We rehabilitated them and gave them the opportunity to either go back to school or learn a vocation. Most of them have not seen a train before let alone boarded it. Many have been on the street, living under the bridge, scavenging.
“So we take them on a tour and also use the opportunity to talk about child labour. Many of these kids have been exposed to child labour and abuse at a very young age. Many of them are used as housemaids,” he said.
Balogun said the youngsters were rehabilitated by the organisation across its shelters in Ogun, Oyo and Osun states.
“We have 40 of them in our shelters in Oyo, Ogun and Osun states and they have been rehabilitated. Some of them have been taken back to school while others are in vocational training.
“We have one of them who just finished vulcanising, and one of our sponsors established him. We are going to stand with them until they can stand on their own in life,” he added.
