CHILD ABUSE AMONG MUSLIM FAMILIES AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Child abuse is a social Phenomenon that has attracted so much attention all over the world including Nigeria. The practice of child abuse is becoming very common in many villages, towns and cities in Northern Nigeria. In this paper, attempt is made to highlights some practices of child abuse which include among other things; child hawking, rape and incest, begging (almajiranci) and denying the child the right to education. The study depends on primary and secondary sources for its data collection. The paper identifies the factors encouraging the trend and analyses the implication of such practices on youth development in Northern Nigeria. Findings from the interviews conducted indicated that the major causes of child abuse among Muslim families in Northern Nigeria are poverty and ignorance of Islamic education. The paper recommends that there should be public enlightenment programme to educate the Muslim parents on the causes and implication of child abuse on children.