The National Population Commission has urged residents and parents in Gombe State to ensure birth registration for all children.

NPC State Head of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, Mr Adedeji Adeniyi, made the appeal on Tuesday in Gombe.

Adeniyi said the call had become imperative in view of the large number of children whose births were not registered in the state, and the advantages of birth registration for policy implementation.

He stated that it was wrong for parents to bring a child into the world and not register the birth.

According to him, doing such means that the child exists without proper documentation and record with the government.

Adeniyi stated that registering a child at birth was the first official document that any child should get, “it gives the child identity.

“We are telling the public that whenever you give birth to any child, take the next step after naming, go and obtain a birth certificate; it is free for all children below 18 years,” he said.

Records obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from the commission showed that between January and November, a total of 126, 674 births had been captured in the state.

These registrations were done in the 77 registration centres across the state.

The record further showed that within the period under review, 37, 650 under one children had so far been registered comprising 20, 033 girls and 17,617 boys.

Also, 68, 396 under five children were registered comprising 34, 394 girls and 34, 002 boys, while 20, 628 children above the age of five were registered comprising 10, 412 girls and 10, 216 boys.

Adeniyi stated that the commission in its effort to ensure that all children in the state were on government’s record was partnering with different stakeholders in the state.

He stated that the partnership was “just to bring the birth certificate registration closer to the community.”

While appealing to parents in the state to always register their children, the NPC official said government and other local and international partners also used the records for programmes and policy implementation. (NAN)