LASG, UNICEF seek juvenile offenders’ rehabilitation

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The Lagos State Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund have renewed calls for a more child-friendly and rehabilitative justice system for juvenile offenders, stressing that punitive approaches often worsen outcomes for vulnerable children.

The call was made during a three-day training for justice-sector stakeholders in Lagos, aimed at strengthening and expanding the state’s diversion programme for children in conflict with the law.

The training, with the theme ‘Scaling up of legal aid for children in conflict with the law and the diversion programme,’ brought together government officials, legal experts, and child-protection advocates.

Speaking at the opening session, the Director of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender, Mrs O. Adesomoju, said the initiative was driven by more than procedural reforms.

“We are here because the lives and future of some children around us depend on the decisions we make, the systems we design, and the integrity with which we uphold justice,” she said.

Adesomoju described children in conflict with the law as a highly vulnerable group.

“Children in conflict with the law are among the most vulnerable in our societies. They often come from circumstances marked by poverty, neglect, trauma, or lack of supportive family and community structures.

“Too often, the justice system designed for adults becomes the first responder to issues that fundamentally and socially relate to these children,” she added.

She noted that the training underscored a shared commitment by the state government and UNICEF to strengthen child-friendly justice, scale up legal aid, and prioritise rehabilitation over punishment.

Explaining the concept, she noted that diversion is an alternative pathway for first-time offenders that diverges from traditional prosecution.

She stressed that diversion “is not about excusing wrongdoing, but about recognising that criminalising childhood behaviour often does more harm than good.”

UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Dennis Onoise, gave insight into the origins of the programme.

He recalled that a 2016 UNICEF survey revealed Lagos had the highest number of children in detention among states surveyed nationwide.

He said, “Children cannot be made to spend up to two or three years in detention with adults that are not their parents, that they don’t know. So, we were very strong in pushing for the need for those children to be released.”

According to him, this led to the creation of community-based rehabilitation and diversion centres.

He noted that the programme, implemented in Mushin Local Government and Ojuwoye LCDA in partnership with the Lagos State Government, had so far rehabilitated over 200 children.

Onoise urged more councils across Lagos to adopt the diversion model to further strengthen protection and rehabilitation for children in conflict with the law.

Gbenga has been covering Metro, politics and education beats for two years as a print and digital journalist

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