A disability rights advocacy group, the United Disability Network (UDN), has alleged that more than 400 persons with disabilities (PWDs) are being detained by the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC/KAI), calling on the Lagos State Government to immediately release those held beyond the constitutionally permitted period or arraign them before a competent court.
In a statement issued on Monday, the group condemned what it described as the mass arrest, profiling and prolonged detention of persons with disabilities, arguing that while the state government has a responsibility to maintain environmental order, criminalising people because of poverty and economic vulnerability amounts to a violation of their fundamental human rights.
According to the Network, many of the affected persons have allegedly remained in custody for weeks without trial, contrary to Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that suspects must be charged to court within 24 to 48 hours or released. It also argued that the alleged action contravenes the Lagos State Special People’s Law, the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which Nigeria is a signatory.
The group maintained that street begging among persons with disabilities is largely driven by poverty, unemployment, inaccessible education and long-standing social exclusion rather than criminal intent. It warned that prolonged detention and the reported plans to repatriate those arrested would only deepen the hardship and trauma faced by an already vulnerable population instead of addressing the root causes of the problem.
As part of its recommendations, the United Disability Network urged the Lagos State Government to replace punitive enforcement measures with sustainable empowerment programmes. It called for rehabilitation centres to be transformed into vocational and skills development hubs offering technical, digital and entrepreneurial training tailored to persons with disabilities.
The Network also advocated the establishment of take-off grants, micro-credit facilities and the provision of assistive technologies for trained beneficiaries to enable them to establish sustainable businesses. In addition, it urged the government to fully enforce the statutory five per cent employment quota for persons with disabilities in both the public and private sectors.
The advocacy group appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State House of Assembly, which is considering an anti-begging bill, and the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources to adopt what it described as a compassionate, rights-based and economically sustainable response to the issue.
It stressed that a truly inclusive Lagos should prioritise empowerment over detention, insisting that environmental sanitation and public safety cannot be achieved through policies that undermine the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
The Lagos State Government and the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC/KAI) had not responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
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