Section 194: Duties of the State Government

(1) Every State Government shall satisfy itself that any voluntary organisation which provides accommodation for a child-
(a) within the State; or
(b) outside the State on behalf of the State,
satisfactorily safeguards and promotes the welfare of the child which it provides with accommodation.
(2) Every State Government shall arrange for children who are accommodated within its State by or on behalf of voluntary organisations to be visited, from time to time, in the interest of the welfare of the children.
(3) Subsection (2) of this section does not apply in relation to community homes.
(4) Where a State Government is not satisfied that the welfare of a child who is accommodated by or on behalf of a voluntary organisation is being satisfactorily safeguarded or promoted, it shall-
(a) unless it considers that it would not be in the best interest of the child, take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that the care and accommodation of the child is undertaken by -
(i) a parent of the child;
(ii) a person who, though not a parent of a child, has parental responsibility for the child; or
(iii) a relative of the child; and
(b) consider the extent to which, if at all, it could exercise any of its powers with respect to the child.
(5) A person authorised by a State Government may for the purpose of enabling the State Government to discharge its duties under this section-
(a) enter, at any reasonable time, and inspect any premises in which children are being accommodated as mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) of this section;
(b) inspect the children in those premises; and
(c) require any person to furnish him with such records of a kind required to be kept by regulations made under paragraph 7 of the Ninth Schedule to this Act, in whatever form they are held, or allow him to inspect such records, as the Minister may, from time to time, direct.
[Ninth Schedule.]
(6) A person exercising the power conferred by subsection (5) of this section shall, if asked to do so, produce some duly authenticated documents showing his authority to do so.
(7) A person authorised to exercise the power conferred by subsection (5) of this section to inspect records-
(a) shall be entitled, at any reasonable time, to have access to, and inspect and check the operation of any computer and associated apparatus or material which is or has been in use in connection with the records in question; and
(b) may require -
the person by whom or on whose behalf the computer is or has been so used; or
(ii) a person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer, apparatus or material,
to afford him such assistance as he my reasonably require .
(8) A person who intentionally obstructs any other person in the exercise of any power conferred by subsection (5) or (7) of this section commit an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred naira or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(9) The Minister may make regulations-
(a) requiring every child who is accommodated within a State, by or on behalf of a voluntary organisation, to be visited by an officer of the State Government -
(b) requiring every child who is accommodated within a State, by or on behalf of a voluntary organisation, to be visited by an officer of the State Government -
(i) in prescribed circumstances; and
(ii) on specified occasions or within specified periods; and
(c) imposing requirements which shall be met by any State Government, or officer of a State Government, carrying out functions under this section.