The Extent of the Legal Protection of the Nigerian Child

Legal protection of children is as old as antiquity itself. They are eternal laws that cannot and should not be taken from children by their existence. When states fail to protect children, they do not just contravene international law but eternal law. This paper introduced the concept of legal protection, it stipulated the statement of the problem, the methodology used and the theories of the legal protection of a child. It accessed the extent of the legal protection of children by accessing the provisions of the Child’s Rights Act, the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Also, it recommended that the provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child that leaves room for alternatives and conflict be amended to ensure compliance by states. It further recommended that the Child’s Rights Act be adopted by states especially states in the northeast and northwest to ensure adequate protection of children in those states. This paper concluded that when legislation intended to protect children is left with several alternatives for states to choose from, these laws will become incapable of actual enforcement and in the long run become redundant leaving no actual protection, subjecting them to abuse, torture and arbitrariness from the very people who ought to protect them.