April 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics estimates that more than 24 million Nigerian children between the ages of five and 17, 39.2 percent of this population, are trapped in the country's child labor system as forced laborers.
Although the institute estimates that more than half of all minors between the ages of five and 17 are involved “in some type of economic activity,” the percentage mentioned refers to minors in situations of forced labor, “who are or either too young or potential victims of psychological or physical harm”. In this sense, some 14.3 million children are directly involved in what is understood as “hazardous work.”
By area, the most serious situation occurs in the northwest, where 6.4 million children are working, half of them in risky conditions.
A constant that the agency's report, collected by the newspaper 'Premium Times', denounces, is that practically all of the minors, 94 percent, are forced to collect the wood and water they need to work themselves. Nigeria is a country known for child kidnappings of students, but minors who travel long distances in search of these materials are also in enormous danger.
16.3 percent of minors involved in work have suffered an injury related to the performance of their work. While boys are more inclined to do this, girls stand out for being forced to work on household chores.
