The Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour, NACTAL, in Ogun State has commended the State Government for its interventions for the girl child.
It, however, raised alarm over the rising number of out-of-school street girls vulnerable to trafficking and abuse.
The State Coordinator, Comrade Olufemi Olusola, in a statement issued on Sunday to mark the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, said while the government had made interventions in education and child protection, girls were still seen hawking during school hours from Kuto to Sango-Ota, Ijebu-Ode to Sagamu.
Olusola asserted that the year’s theme, “The girl I am, the change I lead: Girls on the frontline of crisis,” underscored the need to treat girls as leaders, not victims.
Olusola appreciated the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun for sustained investment in qualitative education, strengthening the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, domestication of the Child Rights and VAPP Laws, and empowerment and health interventions for women and girls across the three senatorial districts.
He, however, called on the government to go beyond existing policies and intensify targeted re-enrolment of girls who have dropped out, provide shelters and psychosocial support for indigent families, and work with traditional institutions and civil society groups to rescue and rehabilitate street girls.
NACTAL also appealed to parents to stop sending daughters out for street hawking and early marriage.
“To our dear parents, especially our mothers; the first protectors of the girl child.
“A girl child is not a burden, not a hawking machine, not a bride to be sold off. She is a future leader.
“We plead with you: Do not send her to hawk during school hours. Do not marry her off early. Do not keep her at home while her brothers go to school. Invest in her education, listen to her, protect her from abuse, and report any case of trafficking or exploitation around you.
“When you educate and protect a girl, you secure the future of a whole family and Ogun State at large,” the statement added.
Int’l day of girl child: NACTAL commends Abiodun, raises alarm over out-of-school girls