The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has reported that in 2023, a total of 106 fathers abandoned their children in Gombe State.
The Public Relations Officer of the commission’s Gombe State office, Mr Ali Alola-Alfinti, made this known in an interview in Gombe on Friday.
He expressed concern over what he described as “increasing cases of child abandonment in the state”.
He said it had become a cause for concern for the commission.
Alola-Alfinti said out of 280 complaints treated by the commission in 2023, 106 were about fathers abandoning children. He said it represented 37.9 percent of the total cases treated in the year.
He explained paternal abandonment as a situation whereby a father abandons his responsibilities to his
children, resulting in the child being abandoned.
He added that when a father fails to provide the necessary care for the children’s well-being, it usually results in the children being neglected. This, he said, could affect their development psychologically, physically and emotionally.
He said: “For fathers who abandon their children and wives without food, care and other basic needs, we received 106 cases in 2023. It is the highest out of other complaints received and is really a serious cause for worry.
“The major reason for such attitude is the economic factor, as many of the fathers blame the situation for their actions.”
The NHRC officer added: “It is violation of a child’s right for parents to abandon them. Children have rights to live and be cared for by those who brought them to the world.”
According to him, the consequence of child abandonment is that such a child is left at the mercy of anyone. And such a situation is better imagined than experienced.
He explained that children abandoned by fathers would harm society, hence the need for stakeholders to collaborate to tackle the menace.
He said NHRC had stepped up advocacy in that regard, in collaboration with critical grassroots stakeholders. This is to emphasise the need for parents to always take up their responsibilities.
