The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, reported that over 106 fathers abandoned their children in Gombe State in 2023.

Mr Ali Alola-Alfinti, the Public Relations Officer of the commission’s Gombe State office, disclosed this in an interview on Friday.

Alfnti expressed worry over what he described as “increasing cases of child abandonment in the state”.

The commission added that it had become a cause for concern for the commission.

Alola-Alfinti stated that 106 out of 280 complaints the commission handled in 2023 were about fathers leaving their children. According to him, it made up 37.9% of all cases treated last year.

Speaking further, he said when a father fails to provide the necessary care for the children’s well-being, it usually results in the children being neglected. This, he said, could affect their development psychologically, physically and emotionally.

“For fathers who abandon their children and wives without food, care and other basic needs, we received 106 cases in 2023. It is the highest out of other complaints received and is really a serious cause for worry.

“The major reason for such attitude is the economic factor, as many of the fathers blame the situation for their actions.”

He added: “It is violation of a child’s right for parents to abandon them. Children have rights to live and be cared for by those who brought them to the world.”

The NHRC officer said the consequence of child abandonment is that such a child is left at the mercy of anyone. And such a situation is better imagined than experienced.

He explained that children abandoned by fathers would harm society, hence the need for stakeholders to collaborate to tackle the menace.