The Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN-N) and Dominicans for Justice and Peace (DJP) Nigeria, groups of the Dominican Order are leading a national campaign to end the prevalence of domestic servitude and child labour in Nigeria. The Dominican Order also known as the Order of Preachers, is a Catholic religious Order founded by Saint Dominic in 1216. Rev. Fr. Aniedi Okure OP, Dominican’s General Promoter for Justice and Peace and Permanent delegate to the United Nations, said domestic servitude exposes people, especially children to trauma, exploitation, mental and physical abuse.
“Domestic servitude is a place where we are seeing children of poor parents, or some of them orphans, who are taken into homes, mainly in the cities, with the intention of making life better for these children, most of them girls,” he said. According to Fr. Okure, the one-day workshop was organised to mobilise local volunteers within the Catholic Church and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in deepening awareness against domestic servitude and child labour. “Today we are putting on a programme on domestic servitude and child labour to bring awareness to people to understand that these practices are really not just harming our children, they’re harming our future, they’re impacting the life cycle and getting people into poverty.”
According to him, the workshop was intended at getting participants and the larger society to understand that humans are created in the image of God. “Whether you are a priest bishop, or governor, or president, your human dignity is no different from the persons living under the bridge. We are flesh and blood”, he said. Fr. Okure, who is also a general promoter for justice and peace, said the Bible is clear about treating people around us. “And the Bible tells us each and every person is created in the image of God. So, when we torture a child or do harm to other human beings, we are violating God’s own divine creation. “And when we look at the Bible, most of the injunctions or commands that God gives is geared towards protecting the rights of the person”, Fr. Okure said.
He also disclosed that there is nothing wrong with children helping domestically at the home front. “There is nothing wrong with children helping out in their home. I grew up, you know, with many siblings, we work at home, it’s a different thing”, he said. Mrs. Atinuke Odukoya, Co-Founder/Executive Secretary, Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN), urged participants to always look at the bigger picture in regard to domestic servitude. “You never know who is next, you never know when you are”, she said.
