The Centre for Infrastructural and Technological Advancement for the Blind CITAB has expressed profound disappointment, shock, and outright condemnation over the investigative report by The Punch Newspaper alleging systemic corruption and bribery within the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs LASODA.
This was contained in a press release issued today in Lagos by Jolomi Fenemigho, Executive Chairman of CITAB.
CITAB noted that the report, which details alleged extortion, administrative roadblocks, and kickback demands targeted at non governmental organisations NGOs that cater for children with disabilities, paints a devastating picture of state enabled neglect. According to the report, approvals and support that should flow directly to children in need are allegedly being processed only after certain envelopes move in the opposite direction, leaving vulnerable children to pay the hidden price of official indulgence.
Fenemigho described the revelations as a tragic betrayal of trust and a direct assault on the survival and dignity of persons with disabilities in Lagos State.
According to him: āIt is a moral low and a structural tragedy when an agency explicitly mandated to protect and uplift the disability community becomes the very obstacle to their survival. Extorting NGOs that are struggling to keep children with disabilities alive, educated, and cared for is a crime against humanity. LASODA was built to be a refuge, not a tollgate, and public servants were not hired to collect gate fees before compassion can cross the door.ā
The CITAB leader recalled that LASODA was established to implement the Lagos State Special Peoples Law, guaranteeing equity, access to infrastructure, and welfare for citizens with disabilities. He said that any practice that allegedly ties approvals, grants, or access to assistive devices and welfare programmes to appreciation from NGOs completely invalidates the progressive image Lagos State claims to project on disability inclusion.
He warned that when corruption penetrates a disability agency, the consequences for beneficiaries are immediate and physical, noting that for a blind child, a project quietly stalled on a desk because an NGO declined to play ball can mean another term out of school, while diverted resources can mean the denial of basic mobility and digital tools required to participate in society.
In response, Fenemigho issued a series of firm demands to the Lagos State Government. He called first for the immediate suspension of LASODAs leadership and all implicated officials, and the establishment of an independent judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the allegations in full.
According to him: āWe cannot entrust the investigation of these claims to the same structures accused of enabling them. Only a transparent, independent judicial process can restore public confidence and reassure families and NGOs that their cries are being taken seriously. If there is nothing to hide, then the books, the files, and the phones should have nothing to fear.ā
He further urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission ICPC to wade in, insisting that any official found guilty of demanding kickbacks, hoarding aid, or weaponising approvals against NGOs must face the full weight of the law.
Fenemigho also called for the total digitization and automation of LASODAs aid and resource distribution processes. He demanded an open, accessible digital portal where NGOs and individuals can submit applications, track approvals, and view disbursements in real time, so that favour no longer determines whose file moves and whose gathers dust.
The CITAB boss stressed the need for civil society oversight, calling for independent, certified non governmental organisations within the disability community to be formally included in monitoring the allocation of disability resources and auditing LASODAs operations.
According to him: āEvery naira diverted through kickbacks or blocked approvals is a naira stolen from mobility tools, therapy, education, and rehabilitation for our children. When an agency created to protect us is accused of turning NGO partnerships into a cash and carry arrangement, Lagosians must ask: who is really being served, the public or private appetitesā
Fenemigho expressed CITABs unwavering solidarity with the NGOs and the families allegedly victimised by systemic extortion and administrative abuse, pledging that the organisation will not remain silent while resources meant to give children with disabilities a fighting chance at life are converted into returns on investment for a few well placed officials.
In conclusion, he called on the Lagos State Government to clean house at LASODA without delay through an independent judicial investigation, criminal prosecution where warranted, full digitization and public transparency of aid processes, and structured civil society oversight. He stressed that the disability community deserves accountability, dignity, and justice, not exploitation, adding that Nothing About Us Without Us must guide every policy and naira spent in their name.
