The wife of Anambra State Governor, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, has called for an end to girl-child marriage and stiffer penalty for offenders.

She made the call while speaking to community leaders and stakeholders during a tour of border communities of Mkpunando Otu, Enugwu Otu and Eziagulu Otu Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area.

Mrs. Obiano urged parents in the communities to give their daughters good education and give them time to mature before giving them out in marriage.

While recommending penalties to deter parents from such acts, the First Lady said: “The sight of young girls with pregnancies and some carrying babies is not encouraging.

“The way to get the best out of these girls is not early marriage but, ensuring that they are trained and are able to fend for themselves.

“We have set up centres where they can be trained on handcrafts and other trades, I want you to encourage them to learn something new and I can assure, they will make every one proud.”

According to her, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ) which is her Pet Project had opened a centre for girl-child training at Enugwu Otu to serve the three communities and it’s environ.

The centre has at the moment enrolled two hundred boys and girls currently training in Tailoring and Fashion Design, Computer Training, Soap Making, Bakery and Confectionery as well as Vulcanising services.

Earlier in her speech, the women leaders of the three communities, Mrs. Francisca Ananwude of Nkpunando Otu, Mrs. Ngozi Okagbue of Enugwu Otu and Mrs. Patricia Nwokedi at Eziagulu Otu hailed Mrs. Obiano for her zeal at caring for the less privileged and ensuring that the governor is attending to the needs of different communities through projects that are geared to improve the lives of Ndi Anambra.

Highlight of the community tour was the distribution of empowerment equipment like grinding machines, sewing machines, and food items like rice, as well as school bags, and exercise books to select widows, children and the physically challenged.