Abstract: The study investigated the relationship between child labour and academic performance among Junior Secondary School (JSS III) students in Ogoja education zone of Cross River State. Ex post-Facto research design was adopted. A 30-item questionnaire and a 40-item achievement test were the instruments used to gather data for the study. Simple sampling technique method was applied. Six hundred and ten (610) students were randomly selected from the 74 public secondary schools in the zone using two schools each from a Local Government Area in the zone for the study. Data gathered were subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The result of the analysis revealed negative significant relationship between child labour, and academic performance of upper basic students in Ogoja education zone of Cross River State. Based on the above findings, it is strongly established that students who are victims of one forms of abuse or the other, are likely to perform poorly academically.