Frontline Edo Woman, Madam Tina Blasts Parents Over Street-hawking Underage Boys, Urges Govt Task force

Frontline Edo Woman, Madam Tina Blasts Parents Over Street-hawking Underage Boys, Urges Govt Task force

“Children Should Be In Class, Not Conducting Buses At Midnight” – Divas International PRO

A frontline Edo woman and philanthropist, Madam Tina Judith, has strongly condemned the rising number of underage male children working as bus conductors on Benin streets during the long holiday, calling on law enforcement agencies and the Edo State Government to act decisively.

Madam Tina Judith, who is also the Public Relations Officer of Divas International, a foremost social group in Nigeria, expressed her displeasure while speaking to journalists in Benin City over the weekend.

The business mogul described it as irresponsible for mothers to allow their underage sons to “prowl the streets doing nothing” during holidays, only to end up hustling as conductors on commercial buses.

“It is very painful to see children who should be in school or learning a skill, now hanging around motor parks and Ring Road as conductors,” she said.

“Mothers of these underage male children who do not see any reason to train their children properly should be brought to book by law enforcement agents.”

Madam Tina Judith lamented that many of the underage boys have no homes to sleep in, noting that in the midnight hours, they are often found sleeping in dirty and unsafe environments around Ring Road.

“In the midnight you will see them at Ring Road sleeping in dirty environments. These are children. This is not what we should normalize in Edo State,”she added.

The philanthropist urged the Edo State Government to immediately set up a taskforce committe to address the menace of out-of-school underage male children.

“We need Government to check these irregularities, these irresponsible activities of these underage male children hanging around Ring Road as conductors when they are supposed to be students,” she charged.

According to her, the taskforce should identify, evacuate, and rehabilitate the children, while ensuring that their parents or guardians are held accountable.

Madam Tina Judith further charged parents to take full responsibility for their children instead of abandoning them to become “marabouts, disgruntled and vagrants” on the streets of Benin City.

“Parents should properly care for their children. Do not owe them. Do not turn them into street urchins and vagrants,” she said.

“A child belongs in a home, in a classroom, or in a skill acquisition center — not on the streets at midnight.”

She reiterated Divas International’s commitment to women and child welfare, promising that the group will continue to speak up and support government efforts to protect children in Edo State.