President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki Said: Nigeria sits on ‘ticking time bomb

Current news report as the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has described as “alarming and a ticking time bomb’’ the no fewer than 10.5 million children in the country believed to be out of school.

According to report he was reacting to the statistics on out-of-school children released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr. Saraki, who spoke when he received a UNICEF delegation, led by its Country Representative, Mohammed Fall, said that the situation called for urgent attention by relevant stakeholders.

He lamented that Nigeria had the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, adding that the statistics represented approximately 20 per cent of the world’s population of

250m under-aged girls forced into marriage — UNICEF

The United Nations Children Fund in its new compilation of data revealing the magnitude of violence against adolescent girls has said about 250 million girls are forced into marriage before the age of 15.

The compilation incorporates a selection of global data released throughout the year, detailing the impact violence has on adolescent girls, their future, and that of their communities and countries.

According to the statistics, almost one quarter of girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide (about 70 million) report that they have been victims of physical violence since they were 15 years old.

“Around 120 million girls under the age of 20 worldwide (about 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts, and one in three ever-married adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (84 million) have been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners,” UNICEF said.