The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has said it would henceforth clamp down on restaurants and beer parlours engaging children as workers.
The NAPTIP commander for Lagos, Comfort Agboko, made this known to journalists on Tuesday, stating that the agency would watch out for restaurants and beer parlours employing children below 12 years as domestic workers.
“This agency, through its enlightenment programme, has many times stressed that it was wrong to engage children as workers.
“Any parent that willingly gives his or her child out to such employers is guilty.
“Anyone found guilty of employing such a child is liable to seven years’ imprisonment,” she warned.
She disclosed that the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, which set up agency, prohibits all forms of slavery and slavery-like activities.
While decrying the rate at which children are being abused by men and trafficked by unknown persons, she urged parents to strive hard to give their wards quality education instead of using them to make money.