TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: Moral and Psychological Filicide: Examining the Consequences and the Rights of Nigerian Children Living With Their Mothers in Brothels and Prisons
AUTHORS:
T.A Yusuf, LL.B (Hons), (Unilorin), LL.M (Ife), Senior Lecturer, Nigerian Law School, Kano Campus, Nigeria. taofikyusuflaw@yahoo.co.uk
ABSTRACT:
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 guarantees in section 37 thereof the right to private and family life. One of the incidents of this provision is that children are expected to actually or constructively reside with and be taken care of by their parents. This helps to engender cohesion in the family which is the smallest group unit in the society. However, there are instances that could make it anathema to the welfare of a child for him or her to reside with the parents as it could negatively affect the whole of the personality of the child presently and in the future. Such instances include where a child lives with his or her mother in a prison yard, a brothel or any other place that is not conducive for the nurturing of a child. Such situations constitute child abuse and could also amount to filicide though in a moral and psychological sense. It is the examination of the consequences of such habitation and the rights of children in this situation that forms the theme of this paper.