The Edo State Government has said that it was currently handling more than 72 child abuse cases, with many of the reported sexual abuse cases allegedly involving fathers and their minor daughters.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah, disclosed this in Benin while reviewing the ministry’s activities between October 2025 and August 2026.
Abdallah said the government was focused on protecting and rehabilitating victims while ensuring that alleged offenders were investigated and prosecuted.
She said the ministry had responded to serious cases, including allegations involving two sisters and an 11-year-old girl, providing medical and psychosocial support before referring the cases for investigation and prosecution.
The commissioner said a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) had been inaugurated in Uromi, Edo Central, in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration, while another was being established in Auchi to ensure coverage across the state’s three senatorial districts.
She said the ministry had also intensified efforts against technology-facilitated abuse through campaigns on cyberbullying, online harassment and digital exploitation, leading to the validation of the Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Policy Framework in June 2026.
Abdallah said a digital child welfare case management system had been introduced to improve documentation, tracking and monitoring of vulnerable children, including those in orphanages.
She added that the 2026 Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy was reviewed to address online exploitation, artificial intelligence risks and institutional abuse, while a school monitoring subcommittee was established following the incident at Igbenedion Primary and Secondary School.
The commissioner further disclosed that the ministry shut down an allegedly illegal children’s home in Owan East Local Government Area in April and handed its operator over to law enforcement.
She said the ministry also rescued a newborn in Ubiaja and reunited three children with their families, as part of its broader efforts to strengthen child protection and welfare in Edo State.