The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) has taken its ongoing enlightenment and sensitisation campaign on Child Rights Law and Sexual Abuse to the staff and students of Otta-Ikosi Junior and Senior High School, Otta-Ikosi in Agbowa-Ikosi area of the State.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Director, Legal (OPD), Mr. Olajide Odusanya, said the exercise was targeted at educating the audience on their rights and safeguarding them, adding that the role of the judiciary in the protection the Child rights cannot be overemphasised.
According to him, the Agency has championed child rights protection, noting that one of OPD’s core functions is to provide free legal services to vulnerable people, especially children and women in the State, irrespective of their status and religion.
Odusanya submitted that the agency is determined to pursue every human rights injustice committed in the State, assuring that perpetrators will be punished for the violation, irrespective of relationship, status and position in society.
He urged the students to take advantage of OPD offices located in different parts of the State, particularly the Ikorodu Office, which is closer to the Otta-Ikosi town, by reporting any case of human rights violation, especially domestic and sexual abuse.
Also speaking, the Head of OPD’s Social Welfare Unit, Mr. Habib Dosunmu, said domestic and sexual abuse should never be dismissed or unexpected from close relatives, stressing that such crimes are usually perpetrated by persons familiar to the victims.
The sensitisation and awareness campaign is one of the communication strategies designed by the Agency to inform and educate the general public about its mandate and free legal representation for all residents of Lagos.
