Cleric raises alarm about underage gambling

Pastor Simon Damilare of the Christ Praise Church, Ilorin, has called on governments to urgently check underage betting to secure teenagers' future.

Damilare made the call in Ilorin on Friday in an interview with the Newsmen.

The cleric said that many sports betting centres in Nigeria were being patronised by underage people.

According to him, the betting centres only care about money and do not consider the age of their customers and the impact

of betting on their lives.

"The centres are filled up with teenagers within the ages of 13 years and 17 years, trying to stake to make profits.

"They feel like they are having fun betting and bet agents do not care about the ages as far they are making money from them.

"Children who are supposed to be in school or under parental care will go and spend hours at betting centres.

" Governments must act fast to rescue the situation," he said.

The cleric also advised parents to be vigilant and guard against their children being lured into bad behaviours by their peers.

He advised parents not to be too busy to ignore their parental roles.