<p class="isSelectedEnd"><strong>ACCRA, Ghana —</strong> The Assistant Commandant General of the West African Regional Command of the African Child Rights Marshal (ACRM), Marshal Dr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor, has called for stronger child-protection mechanisms across West Africa following disturbing allegations of the sexual abuse and exploitation of a minor in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Marshal Dr. Wemakor, who is also the Executive Director of Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), said the reported incident should serve as a reminder to governments, families, communities, law-enforcement agencies, and civil society organisations across the sub-region that protecting children must remain a collective responsibility.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">His intervention follows an official statement issued by the ACRM&#8217;s Nigerian National Commandant, Marshal Dr. Juliet Hassana Muoneme, PhD, after reports and video footage concerning the alleged abuse circulated online.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The Anambra State Police Command has reportedly confirmed the arrest of a woman in connection with the allegations and the rescue of four children, with investigations continuing.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Dr. Wemakor said while the facts of the case must be established through due process, the allegations were sufficiently serious to warrant renewed attention to the protection of children from sexual abuse, exploitation, and digital harm.</p>
<h3>‘A child&#8217;s vulnerability must never become an opportunity for exploitation’</h3>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">According to Dr. Wemakor, children are among the most vulnerable members of society and require deliberate protection from adults who may exploit their dependence, trust, or vulnerability.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He said the reported incident should not be viewed solely as an isolated Nigerian case but as part of a broader child-protection challenge requiring stronger prevention, reporting, and response mechanisms across the West African region.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">“A child must never become a commodity, a source of income or content for the gratification or financial benefit of an adult. The dignity of every child must be protected, whether that child is at home, in school, within the community or in the digital environment,” Dr. Wemakor said.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">He stressed that poverty, family difficulties or other social pressures should never be allowed to become justification for the abuse or exploitation of children.</p>
<h3>Regional cooperation needed to tackle digital exploitation</h3>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The ACRM West African Regional Command also raised concerns about the increasing use of digital technologies in the exploitation of children.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Dr. Wemakor noted that the borderless nature of the internet meant that child sexual exploitation could involve individuals, networks, and platforms operating across different jurisdictions.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He therefore called for stronger cooperation among West African law-enforcement institutions, child-protection agencies, civil society organisations and digital platforms to identify, report, and disrupt networks involved in the exploitation of children.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">“Our borders may separate jurisdictions, but they must never become barriers to protecting children. Where the exploitation of a child crosses a border, our child-protection response must be capable of crossing that border as well,” he stated.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">He said governments and relevant institutions should strengthen mechanisms for information sharing, victim protection, and investigation and prosecution of persons whose criminal responsibility is established by evidence.</p>
<h3>Public urged not to turn child abuse into viral content</h3>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Dr. Wemakor also appealed to members of the public to refrain from sharing videos, photographs, or other material depicting the alleged abuse.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He said further circulation could deepen the trauma experienced by an affected child while potentially creating additional avenues for exploitation.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">“A child&#8217;s suffering must never become our entertainment, curiosity or social-media content. If you encounter material depicting the abuse of a child, do not help it travel further. Report it through the appropriate channels,” he said.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">He urged parents and caregivers to exercise greater vigilance over children&#8217;s online activities and interactions, noting that child protection must now extend beyond the physical environment.</p>
<h3>Parents and communities have a critical role</h3>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The ACRM Assistant Commandant General said child protection could not be left exclusively to law enforcement agencies.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Parents, guardians, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, community organisations, media practitioners and technology companies, he said, all had roles to play in identifying risks and responding appropriately to suspected abuse.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He urged adults to take seriously unexplained changes in a child&#8217;s behaviour, fear, secrecy, injuries, unusual interactions with adults, or other warning signs that may indicate abuse.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">“Protecting a child begins long before an allegation reaches a police station. We must create environments where children feel safe enough to speak and where adults are responsible enough to listen, act and report,” he said.</p>
<h3>‘The child must remain at the centre’</h3>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Dr. Wemakor called for any investigation into the Anambra allegations to be conducted professionally and with the welfare, privacy, and dignity of the affected children protected throughout the process.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He said persons suspected of wrongdoing should be subjected to due process, while children affected by abuse should receive appropriate protection and professional support.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">“We must pursue accountability without losing sight of the child. The child must remain at the centre of every investigation, every intervention and every policy response,” he said.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">He also called for stronger public education on child sexual abuse, exploitation, and online safety, particularly for parents, caregivers, and children themselves.</p>
<h3>A collective West African responsibility</h3>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">The ACRM West African Regional Command said the protection of children required sustained cooperation rather than isolated responses whenever disturbing cases became public.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">Dr. Wemakor said the organisation would continue to support efforts aimed at strengthening child-protection structures and promoting greater awareness of children&#8217;s rights across the region.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He urged West Africans to recognise that protecting children was not merely a legal obligation but a shared moral and social responsibility.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">“When a child is vulnerable, society must become stronger around that child. When a child cannot speak, responsible adults must speak up. When a child is at risk, our institutions must act before the harm becomes irreversible,” he said.</p>
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<p class="isSelectedEnd">Dr. Wemakor further urged the public to support legitimate child-protection interventions and to ensure that allegations of abuse were handled through appropriate investigative and judicial processes rather than through vigilantism or public trial.</p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd">He said the ACRM remained committed to promoting a West Africa in which every child could grow in safety, dignity, and freedom from exploitation.</p>
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