In Ebonyi State, PWDs have taken to the streets to protest what they see as the government’s failure to adequately support their needs. They are calling for monthly subventions, welfare assistance, and the swift passage of the Disability Bill, which has already been passed by the State House of Assembly.
In addition to holding a nonviolent demonstration in Abakaliki, the protesters kicked against a vacation order that Commissioners Dr. Moses Ekuma and Barrister Felicia Nwamkpuma had issued, which ordered them to leave their office without finding another place to work.
The demonstrators, who were carrying signs reading “disability is not a crime” and “they should be included in government programs and appointments,” urged Governor Francis Nwifuru to step in.
On Friday, Comrade Nwovu, the state chairman of the persons with disabilities organization, accused the government of ignoring the group’s repeated pleas for help.
He claimed that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Women Affairs had issued a quit notice without consulting with the PWDs who had been working in the office for more than a decade.
Appointing competent members of the disability community to public positions, providing monthly subventions and welfare packages, and assenting to the Disability Bill were all things Nwovu pleaded with the governor to do.
He went on to explain that the group was fully behind Governor Nwifuru’s government, claiming that people with disabilities in the state were on his side leading up to the 2027 general election.
Professor Emmanuel Echiegu, who serves as the chief of staff to the governor, responded by saying that the Disability Bill would soon be finalised after Governor Nwifuru signed assent to it.
More than 300 disabled people have signed up for free medical care through the Ebonyi State Health Insurance Agency, according to Professor Echiegu.
He promised to meet with the PWD leadership and the appropriate commissioners to discover long-term solutions to the group’s issues, including housing and welfare, and added that the government was already hard at work on them.