Divorce: Catholic Priest wants law for children to claim damages

A Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Oluolu, has called for a legislation that will power children who are victims of divorce, to sue their parents for damages.

Oluolu, a Senior Lectur­er at the University of Port Harcourt, made the remark while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.

He decried the high rate of divorce in Nigeria, saying that children were the major vic­tims of such disagreements.

According to him, when there is divorce, it is only the man and the woman that think about themselves and they forget the children, the consequences, the pain and the burden on them (chil­dren).

‘’And children are not even consulted; they go ahead and say ‘look, divorce’ and as children grow up, they find themselves in a precarious situation.

“My humble idea is that if there will be a law that would permit the children, when they grow up, to say ‘no, I would sue my parents for sub­jecting us to this situation in life’, may be, that could in one way or the other slow down this quick process of divorce that is becoming the order of the day”, he said.

Oluolu, who is the Parish Priest of St. Raphael Catholic Church, Rukpokwu in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, advised parents to exer­cise patience, endurance and tolerance in marriages, at least, for the sake of the children.

“There is need for patience, endurance and tolerance”, he said. -The Authority