Rising Violence Turning Survivors Into PWDs, Advocacy Group Tells Government

A disability advocacy organisation has warned that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is rapidly creating a new class of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), urging the federal government to immediately prioritise rehabilitation and long-term support for victims.
In a statement released Sunday in Abuja, JOSHUA K B Disabilities Rights and Support Initiatives said that beyond deaths and displacement, the country is witnessing a silent but devastating consequence of violence — a surge in citizens who become permanently disabled after surviving attacks.
Executive Secretary Joshua Kingsley Benneth said the government has not established any structured mechanism to identify, document or support victims who now live with disabilities due to terrorism, communal clashes and banditry.
“From Benue to Taraba, Borno to Kogi, Nigerians are being maimed and traumatised daily,” Benneth said. “These attacks are not only claiming lives; they are leaving survivors with life-altering injuries that push families into poverty and despair.”
The group highlighted recent mass kidnappings — including 300 schoolchildren in Niger State and 24 girls in Kebbi State — describing the unending violence as “crippling communities and reshaping lives in irreversible ways.”
According to the organisation, PWDs are disproportionately affected during emergencies and displacement, often unable to flee or access help because environments and shelters remain inaccessible.
The statement urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NEMA, security agencies and state governments to create a targeted intervention that provides mobility aids, trauma care, psychosocial support and economic reintegration for newly disabled victims. It also called for improved welfare for soldiers who sustained disabling injuries in combat.
Benneth warned that without urgent intervention, Nigeria risks a humanitarian emergency where thousands of newly disabled citizens face lifelong suffering without support.
“The rise in disability caused by insecurity is a national emergency,” he said. “Government must act swiftly to protect, rehabilitate and empower affected Nigerians.”