The Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in Anambra State, Ify Obinabo is set to prosecute offenders of child labour.
She made the vow in her office in Awka when a good samaritan brought a 7-year-old boy caught hawking in Ochanja market in Onitsha during school hours.
The development was posted on the ministry’s official Facebook page on Tuesday.
The Women Affairs boss, who expressed sadness over the recent surge in child labour, noted that the state government will not relent until offenders are brought to book.
She noted that one of the effects of child labour is psychological instability because the victims’ childhood is taken away from them.
She warned parents to enrol their children in school as the Prof Chukwuma Soludo-led administration has given every child in Anambra free education.
Narrating his experience, the 7- 7-year-old sachet water hawker, said he is a Primary 2 pupil living with his grandmother in Onitsha while his mother is in Lagos with his elder brother.
According to him, it was his grandmother who asked him to hawk pure water so that they would be able to feed.
The child said his grandmother usually gives him N250 every day to purchase water and that he treks from 33 to Ochanja each day to make sales.
On how much he makes a day and what the money is used for, the 7-year-old said he makes about N2000 every day, which they use in buying rice and spaghetti for feeding.
It was during one of his entrepreneurial engagements that he was caught by some good samaritans who brought him to the Commissioner.
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