The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) has threatened to seal off public facilities and organisations not complying with the commission’s accessibility laws.
The commission’s executive secretary James Lalu said the law mandates organisations and other business premises to make their facilities accessible to persons with disabilities in Nigeria.
”Failure to comply, the law also mandated us to seal the organisations through law enforcement agencies,” said Mr Lalu.
He was speaking on Wednesday when he received the director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Fatima Waziri-Azi, in Abuja.
” It is no longer an option for organisations to comply with the accessibility laws because we would enforce it.
”They will see our compliance and enforcement officers visiting their offices by the time the law takes its full effect; we will go all out with our media, our securities to make sure that every office complies,” he said.
Mr Lalu said the law provided for a national regulation on accessibility in Nigeria to every public building by January 2024 to make their facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.
”Anything in short of that, we are mandated by law to go and seal up any facilities that do not comply with the law,” he stated.
Mr Lalu, however, said NAPTIP is a critical partner towards achieving Nigeria’s desire for equal opportunities for the disability community in Nigeria.
He also commended the commitment of the NAPTIP boss towards providing the relevant laws that ensure access to justice for the disability community.
In her response, Ms Waziri-Azi expressed the deliberate attempt by NAPTIP towards disability inclusion.
She said the agency is determined to ensure effective mainstreaming of the issues of visibility of persons with disabilities into the organisation’s running.
(NAN)
