Dr. Rachael Awosusi, the Commandant
of the Civil Defence College Of Security
Management (Right)
In Ogun State, not only under-age criminals will now suffer for their crimes, their parents too could henceforth be made to pay dearly for the misdeeds of their children.
Though harsh but this measure could be adopted as a last resort to put a halt to the increasing rate of heinous juvenile delinquencies in the state.
According to Dr. Rachael Awosusi, the Commandant of the Civil Defence College Of Security Management, the training institute of the Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps and a respected security technocrat nationwide, this penalty could be adopted as part of the blueprints for the new security initiatives to be fashioned out at the forthcoming 3-day Ogun State Security Conference slated for April 26 – 28 of April, 2022 at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
The high-powered conference tagged “Gateway Secure Confab ’22” is a joint affair of the Ogun State Government and the Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to find solutions to the spate of murders, ritual killings, kidnappings, cultism and other dastardly crimes beleaguering the state.
Dr. Mrs. Awosusi, a mother with children and a professed pastor is not only the incorrigible proponent of this standpoint, she is also routing for its adoption at the security confab themed “Security: A Collective Responsibility”.
Dr. Rachael Awosusi, Commandant
of the Civil Defence College Of Security Management
She posited that parents should be made to pay for the misdeeds of their children insisting that after all, it is the failure to bring them up properly that bequeathed these ill-tutored children on the society and when these children bring the filthy money they got from their illicit acts home, it is these parents that benefit from it.
Speaking with THE STATEPOST in her office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta over the weekend, Dr. Awosusi pointed out that all states in the federation are not plagued by the same insecurity plight, each has its own distinct security threats.
She maintained that in Ogun State for example, ritual killings of human for money making is the security problem and that all other misdemeanours are adjuncts.
The security egghead noted that cultism and kidnappings are sisters to ritual killings, pointing out that when people are kidnapped for ritual purposes, they are eventually killed and mutilated for their body parts despite the payments of ransom by their families.
Berating the high rate of ritual killings in the state, the concerned mother noted that the number of underage perpetrators of these dastardly acts is very alarming.
She insisted that when children are involved in these condemnable acts, the blame should be shared by the parents who did not bring them up properly hence they should be made to bear part of the punishments.
Dr. Awosusi extolled a recent judgement by a court of jurisdiction that committed a mother to sweeping a school for a period of time for the misdemenour of her child. She alluded to the judgment as very apt adding that it is a practical solution to dissuade other parents who have children with criminal tendencies in future.
She argued that the society should not be made to suffer the consequences of parent’s indulgence of their children or wards.
The NSCDC commandant opined that strict upbringing of children is on the wane as many parents are no longer harsh as they say that they do not want their children to suffer as they have done.
Dr. Awosusi said “until we deal with the parents too, maybe imprison them along with the criminal minded children they have raised, many may not sit up o realise that children upbringing is a serious business”.
On the probable success of the forthcoming security conference, Dr. Awosusi said she has no doubt that it will not only be a huge success but also a big leap for the state in improving its security architecture.
She said that no stone is being left unturned in the efforts of its organisers to ensure that the confab is sold to all that matter in the state including associations, institutions, traditional rulers, religious organizations and corporate citizens of the state.
