The stories of children being used and abused as housemaids are heartbreaking. The victims work around the clock, often enduring constant mistreatment from their owners. They receive a meagre monthly wage, if at all. They haven’t lost their parents to war; instead, their parents handed them over to the private “sweatshops” due to dire living conditions and a sense of bleak desperation.
Their only source of comfort lies in the meagre scraps of food they manage to eat.
Findings by LEADERSHIP Data Miners department have shown that there is a surging inclination toward employing underage domestic aides in Nigeria.
Each incident of maid abuse sends shivers down the spines, a grim tale of abuse against innocent house helps which reveals a dark narrative and cruelty that can lurk behind closed doors.
For Bolutife, 13, the third daughter of a poor couple in Akure, Ondo State, it was a case of being sold to slavery by her own parents. On the fateful day in June, 2022, she saw her father, Olumide, 54, conversing with three visitors from Abuja in the room. She later found out that one of the visitors who later became her employer would be the one violating her. Bolutife served as a child housemaid and sex toy to the cruel man who paid her parents (Bolutife’s parents) peanuts to have her as his slave.
She is now being rehabilitated after eight months in the house of her employer after a non-governmental organisation heard her story and rescued her.
But some are not so lucky. For instance, the story of Jemilah began on a fateful day, July 7, 2016, in Lagos. Jemilah, a resident with a dark disposition, crossed a line that should never have been crossed. Fueled by a twisted anger, her employer unleashed her wrath upon a 12-year-old house help, rendering the child blind in one eye. Her transgression? Failing to meet the employer’s stringent standards in washing a kettle.
December 19, 2016, is a date to remember in Ikorodu, Lagos. A mother of three herself, the woman should have been a guardian, a protector. But in a shocking twist of fate, she turned into the very monster she should have shielded her house help from. 10-year-old Faith paid the price with her life, her young spirit crushed under the weight of her employer’s merciless blows.
On May 20, 2017. A businesswoman’s iron grip knew no bounds. Her eight-year-old house help, Bunmi Akeem, became a casualty of her cruelty. A life extinguished, a future snuffed out. But justice, though delayed, would not be denied. The pregnant employer’s attempt to dispose of the innocent child’s body was thwarted by the arms of the law.
In March 2018, the city of Lagos bore witness to yet another harrowing incident. A 10-year-old house help teetered on the precipice of death. Her crime? Allegedly raising a hand against her employer’s children. But the punishment far exceeded the supposed crime – a hot pressing iron, wielded with malevolence seared the innocent child’s skin, leaving scars that ran far deeper than the flesh.
On April 23, 2018, cast a shadow over Anambra State. Uche Ugochukwu’s twisted desires knew no bounds. Her young house-help, a mere 12-year-old, became the canvas upon which she painted her sadistic tendencies. The innocence of childhood was torn apart, replaced by agony and darkness. Ruptured intestines, violated reproductive organs – a litany of horrors that would haunt the young victim for a lifetime.
According to statistics from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 15 million children are engaged in child labour in Nigeria. Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives them of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially, and morally harmful (Wikipedia, 2022).
Child labour is a big menace spreading in Nigeria. However, today’s realities show that a girl child is 80 percent more likely to be assaulted and sold into child labour than a boy child. While the Child Rights Act sets the minimum age of employment as 18, the Labour Act sets the minimum age as 12. There is a need to harmonise these Acts to ensure enforceability.
Furthermore, the UNICEF Nigeria MICS (2021) report reveals the percentage of girls aged 5 – 17 engaged in child labour is 11%. This contravenes laws such as the Child Rights Act (2003) and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act (2015) prohibiting these practices.
According to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in 2018, the NAPTIP Act of 2015 unequivocally states that employing, recruiting, or harbouring a child under 12 as a domestic worker is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. This legal provision underscores the importance of the age limit being set at 12 years.
According to Sunday Nwitie, a human right activist, the real solution requires a deep societal shift.
He said, ‘‘The recognition of childhood’s significance needs to be woven into the cultural fabric, while alternatives to child domestic labour, such as formal education or vocational training, must be provided. Currently, these efforts are lacking, leaving a critical gap.
‘‘The Child Rights Act (CRA) of 2003 in Nigeria defines a child as someone under 18 and asserts that a child’s best interests should be paramount. This legislation condemns physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse of children, while prohibiting slavery and servitude. While the CRA has been adopted by most Nigerian states, it’s clear that addressing child labour isn’t just about legal measures but also about fostering cultural change.’’
A lawyer, Richard Udoh, said merely relying on laws won’t suffice; a cultural reformation is essential. Also, Felix Okoh, a lawyer and human rights activist, criticised the lack of robust systems to protect children, emphasising that policies cannot flourish without adequate provisions for education and healthcare.
However, a public servant, Deji Agbede, shifts blame onto socio-cultural norms, asserting that identifying and addressing such cases requires community involvement. If child labour persists, it’s likely because families and communities derive some form of benefit or support from this practice.
Another lawyer, James Udeh, said using underage children as a house help is a deeply concerning and exploitative practice that raises ethical, legal, and social issues, adding that it is a prevalent issue in many societies, particularly in economically disadvantaged regions like Nigeria.
He said, ‘‘This practice involves hiring children below the legal working age to perform domestic chores, often in exchange for minimal compensation or even basic necessities. Most of the house helps in Nigeria are underage children from poor families sent to richer homes in hopes of a brighter future. It’s not difficult to spot an abused house help. Many are not allowed to go to school, which is most likely part of the agreement for their families to send them away to employers. These housekeepers are subjected to endless house chores and caring for their employers’ children. They are the first to wake up and the last to retire for the night. As for feeding, they eat leftovers and are made to sleep in the kitchen or any other uncomfortable part of the house.
‘‘Those lucky to go to school are sent to public schools in tattered uniforms with few or no exercise or textbooks. These househelps come back from school and are immediately subjected to house chores regardless of whether they’re tired or not. There’s no time for rest and homework until late into the night when everyone else has gone to bed. Victims of house help abuse in Nigeria often appear malnourished and defeated. On closer look, you’ll see violent marks of abuse on various parts of their bodies. Some house help abuses are also sexual, whereby the oga or other male members of the employers’ families sexually assault female house helps. Some of them become pregnant and are severely beaten and forced to get dangerous abortions by their matron in the quest to save the family from shame. Some are sent back to their poor families who are too helpless to seek justice while some victims don’t survive the trauma, as illustrated in a case reported a couple of years ago when a couple killed their house help and hanged her body in the bedroom to make it appear like a suicide.’’
One common practice is the use of agents to recruit child maids for employers. The agents use a variety of recruiting methods, including visiting villages, relying on word of mouth, and putting printed “Vacancy” posters with their phone numbers up on street walls in low-income neighbourhoods. The girls are taken from their small villages to economic hubs like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and nearby cities once their families agree. The children serve as a means of financial support for their families, many of whom are in dire financial circumstances. The idea of someone else taking care of their child while paying a stipend is too tempting to ignore for many parents who can barely afford daily meals and basic healthcare for their children. Neither the employers nor the girls undergo serious background checks.
The majority of clients demand that the girls undergo testing for communicable diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis. This frequently comes at an additional cost to the potential employer, but it is such a common request that some laboratories even offer a “house help screening package” upon request. If the girl tests positive for any of the above diseases, she is deemed unfit, and the agent provides a replacement.
According to an NGO, Simbi Foundation, some reasons for employing underage children include: economic hardship, lack of education, informal nature of labour and cultural norms.
LEADERSHIP checks revealed that some negative consequences for using underage children as maids include: education deprivation, physical and emotional exploitation, health risks and stunted development.