Civil society organisations have decried the level of abuse, stigmatisation and discrimination against persons with disabilities in Osun State and called on the state government to address it.
At a joint press conference in Osogbo, the Community Advancement Initiative for Self Reliance, (CAI4SR), Society for Life Changers and Good Parental Care (SoLife) and Festus Fajemilo Foundation (FFF) urged the state government to domesticate the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act 2018.
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During the press conference, the former women leader of the Osun State chapter of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Mrs Funmilayo Abdullah, said men were abusing women with disabilities in the state because of their condition.
JONAPWD state chairman, Mr Stephen Oluwafemi, and the immediate past chairman of the association, Mr Kehinde Onitiju, also lamented that most of their members were jobless and that they experienced discrimination and stigmatisation on a daily basis.
In their separate remarks, the executive director of CAI4SR, Mrs Eni Ayeni and her FFF counterpart, Afolabi Fajemilo, as well as the coordinator of SoLife, Mrs Falana Adeola, said the law would address problems facing persons with disabilities and urged the state governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, to fast-track the process of domesticating it.