The Interview Technique

In Nigeria, the Labour Act ¹⁴¹made provisions for regulating the appointment, conduct and protection of children in employments as follows: no young person must be employed in any employment which will be injurious to his health or which is dangerous or immoral;¹⁴²or in the circumstance in which is not reasonably possible for him or her to return each day to the place of residence of his parents or guardian, except with the approval of an authorised labour

137Ibid, s 17.

138Ibid,s 18.

139 Ibid, s 6(6).

140 (2002) 9NWLR (Pt. 772) 222.

141CAP L, LFN, 2004.

142Ibid ,s 59.

57 officer and on a written contract which conforms with the contract of employment of a worker.¹⁴³

The Act provides to the effect that no child must be employed or work in any capacity except where he is employed by a member of his family on light work of an agricultural, horticultural and domestic character approved by the minister. He must not in any case, be required to lift, carry or move anything so heavy as to be likely to injure his physical development.¹⁴⁴

No young person must be employed during the night.¹⁴⁵ Night means a period of at twelve consecutive hours including, in the case of young persons under the age of sixteen years, the interval between ten o‟clock in the evening and seven o‟clock in the morning and, in the case of young person‟s over sixteen years a prescribed interval of at least seven consecutive hours falling between ten o‟clock in the evening and seven o‟clock in the morning.¹⁴⁶

In the case of young person‟s over sixteen years the Minister may prescribe different intervals of different areas, industries, undertakings or branches of industries or undertakings but he must consult the employers‟ and workers‟ associations or organizations concerned before prescribing an interval beginning after eleven o‟clock in the evening.¹⁴⁷

No young person must be employed in a vessel as a trimmer or stoker except where the vessel is a school or training vessel and the work on which the young person is employed is work of a kind approved by the minister and supervised by a public officer or by public department or is work on which only members of the family of the young person are employed¹⁴⁸.There must be included in every agreement with the crew of a vessel a list of

143Ibid, s 59(4).

144s 59(1)(b).

145 s 60(1).

146 s 60(4).

147s 60(5).

148Ibid, s 61.

58 young persons who are members of the crew together with particulars of the dates of their births. But in the case of a vessel in which there is no such agreement the master must keep a register, which must at all times be open to inspection by any authorised labour officer, or customs officer, of such young person‟s as may be employed in the vessel with particulars of the dates of their births and the dates on which they become or cease to be members of the crew. The Act mandates every employer of young persons in an industrial undertaking to keep a register of all young persons in his employment with particulars of their ages; the date of employment and such other particulars as may be prescribed and required by an authorised labour officer.¹⁴⁹

The minister may make regulations: exempting any occupation which forms part of an industrial undertaking from all or any of the provisions on employment of young persons or from any regulations made by him under this sections; providing for the registration and identification of young person‟s; prescribing the records to be kept and the returns to be made by employers of young person‟s; further restricting the employment of young persons in specific occupations; prescribing additional conditions upon which young persons may be engaged or employed; and making further provision for the care of young person‟s by employers; regulations providing for the engagement, repatriation or supervision of domestic servants, the employment of women and young person‟s as domestic servants and the conditions of domestic service generally.¹⁵⁰

These provisions are made to protect children from involving in labour especially when they should be in school; unfortunately due to the deplorable economic situation in the country, and lack of monitoring and supervision by designated authorities and institutions, children are engaged in all manners of labour to survive. Child labour affects child‟s development and welfare, and is prohibited by laws, yet it is yet to be abated in Nigeria.

149 s 62.

150s 65.

59 2.5.3 Criminal Code Act and Penal Code Act

The two major sources of Criminal law in Nigeria are the Criminal Code¹⁵¹ which applies in the Southern States, and the Penal Code ¹⁵²applying in the Northern States. Criminal law is intended for the maintenance of law and order in the society; to protect the life, liberty and property of the citizens within the given community by making rules that govern the conduct of the members of the community and also prescribing sanctions for the breach of such rules.

In doing this, some exceptions are provided to take care of special circumstances, which are executable by the law. These are technically called defences to criminal liability and they apply to both adults and children alike.¹⁵³

In addition to these defences, the criminal law makes special provisions concerning children either as offenders or as victims. The basis of these special provisions or treatment of children is the immaturity of a child, which naturally deprives the child the ability to make rational decisions. As an offender it is provided that a child under the age of seven years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission and a child under the age of twelve years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission unless it is provided that at the time of doing the act or making the omission he had the capacity to know that he ought not to do the act or make the omission, and a child above twelve is liable for his acts and omissions that amount to crime.¹⁵⁴ This last category of children, which are referred to as child offender are to be tried at the Family Court and are entitled to all the principles of fair hearing.

As a victim of an offence, several sections of both the Criminal Code and the Penal Code protect the child. In fact a child is protected right from the moment of conception for it is an offence to procure the miscarriage of a woman.¹⁵⁵ And if a child dies as a result of an act done or omitted to be done by any person before or during birth, the person who did or

151Criminal Code (CC) Act, Cap C 38, LFN, 2004.

152Penal Code (PC) Act, Cap P 3, LFN, 2004.

153 CC, op cit, ss 22-36.

154 CC, s 30 & PC, s 232.

155 CC, s 228 & PC, s 232.

60 omitted to do such act is deemed to have killed the child.¹⁵⁶ Concealment of the birth of a child after delivery by a secret disposition of its dead body is an offence punishable with imprisonment for two years.¹⁵⁷ All these are meant to protect the child before its delivery or immediately after delivery, so that any person who is under any obligation to the child shall be legally liable if, for any reason he does or refuses to do anything which negatively affects the child. Charges are rarely brought on this provision, because of the cultural perception that the child is the property of the parent, who chooses to deal with the child as he or she wills, especially when the child is unborn. This is a wrong perception, more so a crime since it is designated as such in a written law. To this effect, it is necessary that institutions empowered to address issues of child victims do their work effectively, if the actualisation of rights of the child is to be realised.

A person who unlawfully abandons or exposes a child less than seven years of age, in such a manner that grievous harm is likely to be caused to it commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for five years.¹⁵⁸ Again it is the duty of every person who, as head of the family, has charge of a child under the age of fourteen years, being a member of his household, to provide the necessaries of life for the child. He is held to have caused any consequence which results to the life or health of the child by reason of any omission to perform that duty, whether the child is helpless or not.¹⁵⁹ Similar duty is imposed on every person having charge of another who is unable by reason of age, sickness, unsoundness of mind, detention or any other cause to withdraw himself from such charge, and who is unable to provide himself with necessaries of life, whether the charge is undertaken under a contract, or is imposed by law, or arises by reason of any act, whether lawful or unlawful, of the person who has such charge, to provide for that other person the necessaries of life; and

156 CC, s 309 & PC, s 234.

157 CC, s 329 & PC, s 239.

158 CC, s 341 and PC,s 237.

159 CC, s 301.

61 he is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of the other person by reason of any omission to perform that duty.¹⁶⁰ It is also a duty of every master or mistress who has contracted to provide necessary food, clothing, or lodging, for any servant or apprentice under the age of sixteen years to provide the same; and he is held to have caused any consequences which result to the life or health of the child by reason of any omission to perform that duty, whether the child is helpless or not.¹⁶¹ This is meant to protect the child from any form of deprivation, so that the parent, guardian or any responsible will be committing an offence for not providing the child with the necessaries of life like food, clothing or shelter.

The Code provides for sexual offences against the child. Thus any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of thirteen years is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for life.¹⁶²There are other provisions on defilement and indecent treatment of boys under fourteen years, girls under sixteen years, causing or encouraging the seduction or prostitution of a girl under sixteen, allowing a person under sixteen to be in brothels, procurement of girls to have unlawful carnal knowledge with a man, and abduction of girls under eighteen with intent to have carnal knowledge.¹⁶³

Further more, parents, guardians, teachers and masters are permitted under the law to correct their children; however it has to be done within the limits permitted by law as follows:

a parent may correct his child under the age of sixteen years, or any guardian or person acting as a guardian, his ward, being under sixteen years of age, for misconduct or disobedience to any lawful command; a master may correct his servant or apprentice under the age of sixteen years for misconduct or default in his duty as such servant or apprentice; guardian or teacher acting in that capacity over a child under the age of sixteen years for misconduct or

160 CC, s 300.

161 CC, s 302.

162 CC, s 218.

163Ibid ,ss 216-225.

62 disobedience for any lawful command; the a parent or guardian or a person so acting may delegate to any person whom he or she entrusts permanently or temporarily with the governance or custody of his or child or ward all his or her own authority for correction, including the power to determine in what cases correction ought to be inflicted; and such a delegation shall be presumed, except in so far as it may be expressly withheld, in the case of a school master or a person acting as a schoolmaster, in respect of a child or ward.¹⁶⁴ Chastisement is also permitted under the penal code for persons below eighteen years, as long as it does not cause grievous harm.