Having watched the heart wrenching video of the woman slamming the child into the ground, I am pained and angry. However, pain and anger must give way to action.

Generally we as a society we trust our women over men to protect our children, this trust is obviously misplaced and indisputably now broken.

We place an implicit trust in situations where we see a female involved, for example, if you see a girl in a bus, you immediately trust the bus is not a “one chance” bus. Now you enter such a bus with such believe at your own risk.

We believe our women whenever they speak. Of course, we often question the man that is on the opposing side “why would she lie” in a manner to indicate we believe her over him.

Today, our society has fallen apart and the fact of life is simply, trust no one. Not especially with any child. The level of abuse of children by women, exposed everyday, is distressing.

Men are worse. They simply behead children, chop them up and carry them about in a small box to do juju so they can have money.

It is a terrible time to be a child in Nigeria.

After the abuse by the evil madam of the house, comes the endless rape by the oga of the house. Invariably, pregnancy will result. The little girl who is merely about 14 years old will suddenly be a mother, kicked out of the job that sustained her parents and other siblings and returned to her village with an additional burden from oga. Add to that the stigma of being a single mother at that tender age.

Guess what, madam and oga’s children will keep on progressing in school as the physically and sexually abused maid now struggles with an unwanted pregnancy and later a child. This is simply a case of a poor child raising a poor child.

It is a terrible time to be a child in Nigeria.

It is now clear that we have a duty to report ANYONE you see with a child who is acting as a maid to any woman or man. Report them to NAPTIP or the nearest Police Station. You may be saving a life.

Child abuse and child labour is a violation of the law in Nigeria.

If you know anyone that has given out their child as a house maid or house girl, report such a person to NAPTIP or the nearest Police Station. You may be saving a life.

To all those men and women who have children believing “God will provide” I hope you rot in..... Let me take a long deep breath here. But I hope you rot in hell before you bring any child into the world to suffer as a maid and bring you income so you can stay home and procreate some more as rabbits. God will not provide, He expects the man and woman to be responsible.

Sorry the long breath did not work this time. I still said it. I will do better next time.

Women, without absolving, men the final responsibility of bringing a child into the world is yours. You bear the greatest brunt of this act. Proceed always with any man with caution. There is no tongue sweeter than the tongue of a man who, in the middle of the night, wants to sleep with a woman.

Let us all join hands in protecting our children. Know this one thing: We Have A Duty To Protect Our Children. Report all abuse to NAPTIP and the nearest Police Station.

•Dr. Asukwo Mendie Archibong Esq., Nigerian lawyer and politician, is Managing Partner at Archibong Law Firm, Washington DC/Maryland U.S.

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