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…Says Digital Violence Must Stop
By Henry Uche
As the world observes the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria is seeking the domestication of the Child Rights Law, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, and the newly launched Alternative Care Guidelines, and full enforcement of all in every State of the federation.
The National Director of SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, Mr. Eghosa Erhumwunse in a statement added that the Group sought for the official recognition and inclusion of ‘digital violence’ in national security, protection, and gender-based violence reporting systems. This is even as insecurity and targeted abductions of girls and vulnerable children across the country takes alarming dimensions.
While expressing fear over the safety of Nigerian girls, especially those without parental care following series of threats by men of underworld, they said, “Our schools must be secured as safe places for learning. Online spaces need regulation and monitoring with real accountability, survivors should be protected, and perpetrators must face justice. What started as a crisis has now turned into a national emergency. Streets and schools are no longer safe. The digital space, which should provide learning and connection, has become a platform for exploitation, abuse, and fear”
For over a decade, Nigeria has seen a troubling increase in school and community abductions. More than 1,680 children have been forcibly taken, and recent incidents bring that number close to 2,500. Each abduction is not only a crime; it shows the failure of our child protection systems.
It reminds us that the nation’s youngest and most vulnerable children are increasingly at risk. For those lacking stable parental care, the danger is even greater. They are less protected, less sought after, less heard, and too often forgotten. Such attacks harm families, disrupt education, and strip children of safety, continuity, and hope.
However, physical violence is just one part of this escalating crisis. Nigeria is now facing another major issue: digital violence. Recent research reveals that 68.9 million Nigerians, nearly half of the country’s active internet users, suffer online harm, including cyberbullying, impersonation, exploitation, and abuse.
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Alarmingly, 58 percent of these harms mainly target women and girls. Nigeria’s ranking as the fifth-highest cybercrime hotspot worldwide highlights how serious this problem is. Behind each manipulated image, hateful comment, threat, or non-consensual content is a real person, often a girl, whose dignity, identity, and mental well-being are violated.
The combination of physical abductions and digital exploitation has a disproportionate effect on children without parental care, the group that SOS Children’s Villages aims to protect. For these children, trauma from loss now mixes with threats from online predators, grooming, identity misuse, and digital sexual exploitation.
The vulnerabilities that once made them targets in the physical world are now exploited in the digital sphere, where some are groomed, trafficked through screens, and dehumanized for profit. A country that fails to protect its children, both offline and online, risks its future security, stability, development, and moral standing.
SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria firmly maintained that digital violence is real violence, and abduction is not an isolated crime — it shows deeper failures in child protection. As a child-centered organization with decades of experience supporting those at risk of losing parental care, they called for immediate, coordinated and unwavering national actions.
“We urge the Federal and State Governments to declare the protection of women and vulnerable children a national security priority. We ask law enforcement agencies to pursue and prosecute abductors and digital predators without delay.
“We call on legislators to fix legal gaps that allow technology-facilitated violence. We want technology companies to take responsibility for the harm happening on their platforms and prioritize child safety over profits. We call on religious, traditional, and community leaders to break the culture of silence and advocate for every child’s rights”
They encourage all Nigerians — parents, teachers, neighbors, and citizens — to step up as protectors, reporters, and advocates, not bystanders. “This is not just a gender issue; it is not only a children’s issue. It is a national, moral, security, and development crisis, and it requires immediate action and unity.
“During these 16 Days of Activism, SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria stands firm: We will advocate. We will protect. We will tirelessly work until every child, especially those without parental care, can live, learn, and dream in safety” they avowed.
