SEPTEMBER 19, 2023: PRESS STATEMENT: The Impact of Delayed & Denied Equal Rights to Justice for Crimes Against Humanity Related to Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria
By The Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD) Board of Trustee (BOT) Chairlady, Miss Omotunde Ellen Thompson.
The Impact of Delayed & Denied Equal Rights to Justice for Crimes Against Humanity Related to Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria
In Nigeria, it is saddening to observe that cases that are related to Persons With Disabilities, and justice have been unduly delayed and in the worst scenario, denied due process, fair procedure, and equal protections of constitutional and customary rights.
Nationwide, Persons With disabilities were regularly subjected to traumatic, cruel and unusual punishments because of delay and denial of justice. The resultant Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) effect is better imagined than experiences, as it affects both Persons With Disabilities psychic and society’s image.
Delayed equal rights to justice can exacerbate the already existing challenges and vulnerabilities faced by persons with disabilities, and it hinders the country's or Society’s progress toward achieving social inclusion, equality, and justice for all.
Any nation or society that delays equal rights to justice, especially for social, civil, human, disability, cultural and criminal cases that affect persons with disabilities is not only insensitive but setting a stage for a time boom, that if exploded has deleterious and damaging constitutional, religious and customary effects not only to the vulnerable but on the entire systems.
Many societal vices like insecurity, terrorism, kidnapping, youth restiveness, cultism, money rituals, 419, Yahoo! Yahoo!, drug and alcohol abuse, and militancy characterize our nation’s landscape, majorly because of delayed and denied equal rights to justice.
In Nigeria, national laws are enacted by the legislative branch of government which comprises the House of Representatives and the Senate while the executive arms of government assent's bills into law, they also create guidelines, rules and regulations while the judiciary interprets and applies the law for the betterment of society. These arms of government in Nigeria ensure checks and balances and all work in unison to maintain a healthy and free society that protects human dignity and ensures the safety of properties.
When one arm of government is not performing its functions effectively, it can lead to various consequences and challenges within the system of checks and balances. In a democratic system of government like in our country, legislatures have the responsibility to oversee and hold the other branches of government accountable for their actions or inactions.
This oversight can include conducting hearings, investigations, and audits to assess the performance of the executive or judiciary, including the independent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). There is, therefore, a wake-up call to the 10th National Assembly, to effectively exercise their oversight functions, by revisiting all pending cases that have been denied equal rights to justice or unnecessarily prolonged, especially as they concern persons with disabilities in Nigeria to instill Social justice.
As beautiful as laws are established, they are of no effect if they are not properly implemented, the onus falls back on the judiciary to interpret, and enforce such laws. It becomes aberration if people whose actions go contrary to the law are not held to account for their actions according to the law.
This is an unfortunate situation that characterized the discharge of justice on criminals that deceived persons with disabilities or in the worst scenario, front their needs to defraud the public and government.
A case in point is the case that was instituted by the Independent Corrupt Practices & other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) against Alhaji Olarewaju Abdulrauf Iliasu, who in conspiracy with others for over one decade has been misusing the Federal Civil Service Staff with Disabilities Multiple Purpose Cooperative Society and our poor 31 million Nigerians With Disabilities to defraud innocent Nigerian businessmen and women.
We are aware that it is commonly said time and justice are parallel, but we are using this medium to call for the judiciary and legislative arms of government to expedite judgment against crimes committed against persons with disabilities and were denied due process, fair procedure, and equal protections of constitutional and customary rights. Given the backdrop that the majority among them are poor and not informed of their constitutional and customary rights; I think that is one of the reasons that many criminals find it a haven to abuse and defraud Persons With Disabilities recklessly in Nigeria with impunity and nobody cares to ask questions.
Given the nationwide pile-up of cases and criminal offenses minted against the disabled in Nigeria in past democratic administrations, we are using this medium to plead to the current 10th National Assembly’s legislators to keep with what they are statutory established by raising to their oversight functions and protect the rights of Nigerians With Disabilities.
The judiciary should properly interpret laws and quickly bring culprits to book so that we the Nigerians With Disabilities can feel a sense of protection of our fundamental constitutional, civil, customary, religious, disability and human rights. It will also deter others who are specialists in deceiving the public in the pretense of caring for or supporting the needs of Nigerians with Disabilities.
We are hereby calling for a more efficient and responsive legal system in Nigeria, particularly concerning cases involving persons with disabilities. There should be a stronger commitment to upholding the rights and well-being of Nigerians with Disabilities within the ambit of extant laws.
Finally, we are also calling on both the 10th National Assembly and Executive Branch of Government, led by HE President Bola Tinubu to without further delays, put in place machinery to commence intense creating of awareness and implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 and its Independent National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), including the UN CRPD and Disability-Inclusive Sustainable Development goals (SDGs), 2030 Agenda.THANK YOU.
Miss Omotunde Ellen Thompson (FRMI),
Chairperson BOT & Pioneer Co-Founder of the JONAPWD-National
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