The United Nations Children’s Fund on Thursday said children from Nigeria and other West African countries were exposed to violence and sexual abuse when imprisoned with adults.

According to the UNICEF, Nigeria and Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Guinea and Mauritania are lacking access to child friendly justice.

UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, made this revelation during the launch of a 3-year European Union $9.5 million grant that improves access to child-friendly justice for vulnerable children in West Africa.

Lamented that children from the region were still suffering from pre-trial detention, Mr Hawkins said “Vulnerable children rarely have access to child-friendly justice and are often subject to pre-trial detention, in contravention of child rights standards.”

“In many cases, they are incarcerated with adults and therefore exposed to a high risk of violence and abuse, including psychological or sexual abuse,” he added.

On her part, Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships said protecting child right is critical in ensuring that “children grow with the best possible opportunities and can be the owners of their future.”

“The EU is taking concrete action today with the contribution of nearly $9.5 million to improve access to an adapted justice system, which can make a real difference in the lives of many vulnerable children in West Africa.” she further said.

Also UNICEF regional director for West Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, said her organisation was working to boost the capacities of national and civil society authorities to ensure justice systems adopt a child rights approach.

She said that her organisation was working to proffer an alternative to detention for all child offenders for countries across the West African region.

The grant will empower UNICEF to promote crucial services for children, including access to child-friendly justice with a rights-based approach.

The donation will also focus on providing child protection services for 41,389 children, including survivors of violence, abuse and exploitation and children in street situations who are often in conflict with the law.

In Nigeria, the grant will focus on providing justice services and community rehabilitation and reintegration for children in conflict with the law and in street situations, including Almajiris and children forcibly returned to Nigeria from abroad.

The programme will also grant survivors of violence, in Nigeria the access to justice services including legal aid for an efficient processing of their case and prosecution of perpetuators.