You can jilt a lover but not a child

You can jilt a lover but not a child

While dating, many people
have complained of getting dumped by their partners, it simply means they were
jilted by lovers or got their hearts broken in extreme circumstances. While
this may be socially acceptable as a person cannot be forced to love or care
for another person, it’s socially unacceptable for anyone to jilt or dump their
children and the Criminal Code Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides
a penalty for same.

According to Section 372
of the aforementioned law,

“Any person who being
the parent, guardian or other person having the lawful care or charge of a
child under the age of 12 (twelve years) and being able to maintain such child,
wilfully and without lawful or reasonable cause deserts the child and leaves it
without means of support, is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to
imprisonment for one year”. 

So next time, you think
about bailing on your kids or wards, remember you may get locked in jail for
it. At that point, all one can say is “don’t drop the soap”. 

Adedunmade Onibokun

@adedunmade

Dunmadeo@yahoo.com

Photo Credit – www.naij.com