Over 700 soldiers of the Nigerian army have been amputated as a result of war against boko haram terrorism in the north-eastern region of the country.
This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, James Lalu on Thursday when he appeared to defend the commission’s 2021 budget before the Senate committee on Special duties.
Recall that the passage of the disability bill in the 8th Assembly paved way for its assent in 2019 that birthed the commission.
It was eventually established 24th of August 2020 and it seeks to cater for the education, health, livelihood, provision of accessible facilities, and protection of lives and dignity of 31.5 million disabled persons in the country, Lalu stated.
“The issue of empowerment, we have a very large ambition. In our proposal they saw the empowerment and said it was too many so some were removed and we have N700 million. If we are able to get a upward review, we can be able to bring in more empowerment programmes because it is very necessary.
“Our brothers and sisters with disability in the north east. The thing they are facing is not an easy thing. Today, our military is suffering in that area. So many of them were amputated. I think we got a number of over 700 soldiers that got amputation. Some of them were dismissed from their work because of this amputation.
“We are expected to provide support for them so they can be able to walk fit and go back to their work. Dismissing them automatically is abusing their rights as persons with disability because they need to be protected”, he said.
According to him, the Commission’s approach is inclusive development that will protect the rights of disabled persons and reduce discrimination to the barest minimum so that they can participate in every government activity.
Credit: PressExpress