By David Torough, Abuja

Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) in conjunction with Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs), Hope Alive for Possibilities Initiative (HAPI) and Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), have appealed to the Benue government to pass the Disability Act into law in the state to enable PWDs enjoy their full rights.

The trio groups’ delegation led by Personal Assistant to the Governor on Disabilities, Ben Anshe, made the appeal when they presented a copy of the draft bill to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Fidelis Mynim, in his Makurdi, the state capital.

In their separate speeches, Anshe who is also the chairman of JONAPWD, HAPI representative, Onah Adeyi stressed that if domesticated in Benue state, the Disability Act would give PWDs legal protection, grant them access to services, include them in development and show compliance with international obligations.

Anshe recommended on behalf of the three organizations saying: “we urge the Benue state Ministry of Justice to review and vet the draft Disability and the Commissioner of Justice as the chief legal officer of the state should advise the state government on the proposed law and recommend it passage.

“We call for active engagement with stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society organizations PWDs and the private sector, to solicit input and build consensus on the commendation process.

“We recommend capacity-building initiatives for relevant state agencies and personnel to enhance their understanding of disability rights and ensure effective implementation of domesticated legislation.

“We advocate for the establishment of mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the implications of domesticated disability rights legislation, with a focus on accountability and impact assessment”.

He lamented they suffered a lot of negligence in the past administration to have the law domesticated and appealed to the current state government to favour them on the issue.

In his response, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Fidelis Mynim, assured that he “will push in the law through the State Executive Council to the state assembly” and follow it up until it’s domesticated.

He acknowledged that within the North Central, it was only Benue State that has not domesticated the law and promised to take it up “since government is a continuum”.

The commissioner who commended the organizations for presenting the draft bill also appreciated them for their patience.

A middle-age man was, in the early hours of Tuesday, electrocuted while trying to vandalise a BEDC transformer on Airport road in Benin.
The deceased, whose identity has not yet been ascertained, was said to have succeeded in cutting some of the cables before he was electrocuted.
The incident drew the ire of passers-by, as many were seen raining curses on the deceased for being the one responsible for putting the area in darkness.

One of the residents of the area, Mr Emmanuel James, blamed the action of the deceased on a get-rich-quick syndrome.
Speaking at the scene of the incident, the BEDC Electricity Plc’s acting Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs Evelyn Gbiwen, decried what she called incessant act of energy theft and vandalism of the company’s facilities.
Reports says that BEDC’s franchise states include: Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti.
Gbiwen called on people to desist from vandalising the company’s transformers, stressing that this could have significant impacts on the community.
She expressed the regret that in spite of BEDC’s regular warning to the members of the public to desist from vandalism and energy theft, many still indulged in the act, which she described as dangerous.
“This singular act of the vandal has thrown the entire community into total darkness,” Gbiwen said.
She appealed to residents to be vigilant and protect BEDC’s facilities from vandals so that the company could serve them better. (NAN)

The Nasarawa  Government has proscribed ethnic vigilance groups in the state.

This is contained in an Executive Order signed by Gov. Abdullahi Sule on Tuesday in Lafia.

He said that the order was an exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 97A of the Penal Code and acting on the advice of the State Security Council.

“The Nomad Vigilante and other ethnic vigilante groups are hereby proscribed and declared unlawful societies dangerous to the good governance of the state.

“The order may be cited as the Penal Code and Proscription of Nomad Vigilante and other similar Organizations Order, 2024 and shall deemed to have come into operation on April 15, 2024,” he said.

Similar Organisations, he said, includes any association, movement or group of persons or society in whatever name called or form, with the aim and objectives of providing security amongst particular ethnic groups within Nasarawa  through the use of force or arms etc,” part of the Executive Order No. 1 of 2024 reads.

“Accordingly, the Kungiyar Zaman Lafiya nomad vigilante, Bassa vigilante, Eggon vigilante and other similar organisations are henceforth proscribed, and declared unlawful societies that are inimical to good governance in the state,” he added.

The governor then directed, that members of the Kungiwar Zaman Lafiya nomad Vigilante, Bassa Vigilante, Eggon Vigilante and other similar organisations, should hand over all weapons or arms in their possession, along with uniforms to the commissioner of police Nasarawa, within two weeks from the date of issuance of the order..(NAN).