As part of efforts to reduce to barest minimum level the rate of abuses on the vulnerable especially the children, Office of the Public Defender has taken it enlightenment campaign on Child’s Right Law to children with special needs with the aim to educate them on their rights and necessary step to take when infringed upon.

The Office of the Public Defender was established to the defend the voiceless when their rights are infringed urging the pupils to see themselves as leaders of tomorrow and that there is ability in disability.

Its Director, Olubukola Salami told pupils of Wesley Schools for the Hearing impaired 1&2 at Surulere Area of Lagos State, expressing displeasure in the manner in which
children with special needs are treated by the general public, saying having one disability or the other doesn’t mean they should be neglected nor rejected.

According to Salami, the daily reality for most children with a disability is that they are
often condemned to a ’poor start in life’ and deprived of opportunities to develop to their full potential and to participate in societal activities.

Salami said government had established the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs, to cater for the rights of people living with disability for them to enjoy all rights.

She said in countries over the world, children with disabilities and their families continue to face discrimination and are not yet fully able to enjoy their basic human rights stressing that the inclusion of children with disabilities was a matter of social justice and an essential investment in the future of society.

Salami listed some of the Child’s Right Law of Lagos State to include; Right to survival, Right to parental care, Right to health services, Right to freedom of movement, Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, Right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly among others.

Speaking through Leader of the Campaign Awareness Committee, Fatai Borokinni, she appealed to parents to raise the hope of children with disability, focus on their capabilities so that they could be useful to themselves and the nation.