By Abiemwense Moru
Abuja – A group of persons with disabilities on Monday called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage the Nigeria Disability Rights Bill and other bills.
Ms Lois Auta, Founder, Cedar Seed Foundation, made the call on behalf of the group, at a news conference in Abuja.
She said that the bill was to safeguard women with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.
Auta said that the bill had passed through second reading at the Senate and was awaiting the conduct of a public hearing on it.
According to her, we need proper information about the stage of the bill for it to be passed; we know that the delay came because of change in government.
“When the bill is passed, it can take care of the challenges we face every day.
“We want laws that can back us in our society and also help our children,” she said.
Mrs Catherine Edeh, a lawyer with speech defects, said that women with disabilities were often deprived of access to land, productive and social services necessary for their development.
She said that women with disabilities want full participation in political issues and decision-making processes, noting that denying them the opportunities hampered their empowerment and independence.
“We want more women involvement in every development agenda; we want our space to be given to us, we are entrepreneurs, educators and experts in various fields and careers.
“We also constitute higher ration of those who are physically-battered and abused because there is no enactment in Nigeria to safeguard our rights,” Edeh said.
They called for ratification and domestication of the protocol and other human rights instrument that promoted and protected the right of women in the country.