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_Adekola Ojerinde

Justice, Development and Peace Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan recently sensitised different law enforcement agencies to the rights of People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The law enforcement agencies present at the one-day programme were the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Amotekun Corps.

Speaking on the reason for the programme, an official of JDPC, Mrs Adenike Ibitara, said PLWDs face different challenges in their daily, “and unfortunately, our security operatives don’t even know that these special people have rights under the law.”

Mrs Ibitara said the Oyo State government enacted a law in 2022, which states the rights of PLWDs under the law, just as she charged security agencies to equip themselves with the contents in order to know the rights of PLWDs.

The keynote speaker, Professor Oyedunni Arulogun, who is the Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Ibadan, said law enforcement officers must be conversant with the law protecting PLWDs in order to be able to protect them.

She said to be able to know what the law says about the rights of PLWDs, security operatives must study the new Oyo State Law 2022 that protects the rights of physically-challenged persons.

The don added that everyone must know that physically-challenged persons have the same rights as other people and must not be discriminated against based on their physical conditions.

nd be friendly with them and learn to see the world through their eyes.

“For those with hearing impairment, we can learn a little of sign language, and it will definitely make a difference in their lives,” Professor Arulogun said.

Earlier, participants highlighted the challenges they face from law enforcement agencies, with one person, who has a hearing impairment, saying he once had a case with some people at the police station, but the officer in charge of the case said he was only pretending that he couldn’t tal