Members of the Legal Aid Community Development Service
(CDS) group of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in
Lagos have visited Ikoyi Prison to provide free legal services to
inmates awaiting trial. TEMITAYO AYETOTO (NYSC Lagos)
reports.
Access to legal services does not come cheap for the poor. As
they struggle to meet essential needs such as food, clothes and
shelter, access to legal assistance is a luxury. For the poor,
staying out of trouble appears to be the best.
Lack of confidence in the legal system and low awareness, a
2014 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report
said, are part of the factors responsible for the inability of the
poor to access legal aid.
Against this backdrop, some National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) members in Lagos embarked on provision of free legal
aid to the vulnerable.
The Corps members, who are in Legal Aid Community
Development Service (CDS), said their action was in line with
the objectives of the Nigerian Legal Aid Council.
Last week, the Corps members visited Ikoyi Prison to render
free legal assistance to some inmates, who are awaiting trials.
More than 30 Corps members, who are lawyers, were at the
prison to scrutinise the inmates’ case files.
They took up cases of about 150 inmates standing trials for
offences, including stealing, smoking of Indian hemp, burglary,
armed robbery and murder. The inmates were assured that their
cases would be hastened up in the court.
The gesture, according to the Corp members, was informed by
the need to stop abuse of people rights and to restore
confidence in the legal system.
The CDS’ Corps Liaison Officer (CLO), Janet Gbam, said the
services were particularly targeted at decongesting the prison,
noting that certain offences could be handled within the police
station, before subjecting the accused persons to detention in
maximum prisons.
Janet said the pro-bono legal service was a pragmatic tool for
bringing succour to the defenceless, noting that the Corps
members’efforts led to the discharge of no fewer than 50
accused persons in Lagos prisons.
Janet said: “As lawyers, we should not be prodded to help the
vulnerable because of money. We need to act to re-organise our
society and make the legal system just. I believe NYS offers
veritable platform to carry out this objective.
“There are a lot of people, who are taken to court without legal
representation. Some of them cannot pay expensive legal fees.
This is why we take up such cases and offer to help. It is our
way of giving back to the society. After taking up the cases, we
go to court to ascertain the ones without lawyers. We then
represent them. Through this, we have freed more than 50
inmates in Ikoyi and Kirikiri Prison.”
The Corps members urged law enforcement agents to stop
complicating court processes, noting that continued detention
of accused persons without trial contravened their rights.
She added: “We need to enlighten our law enforcement agents.
There are some trivial offences that can be handled without
taking the accused person to the maximum prisons. It is not
everything that should end in prison. We have mediation and
arbitration process that can be used in resolving disputes
without resulting into legal action.”
The Corp members also donated materials, including food, to
the inmates.
The Assistant CLO, Steven Azubike, said: “The essence of
donating materials to the inmate is to make them comfortable. I
think the spirit is high among us and we will continue with this
gesture, because it is part of our duties to contribute our quota
to the development of our country.”
Chief Superintendent of Ikoyi Prison, Sunday Akpan, hailed the
Corps members’gesture, saying it would help to decongest the
prison.
He said: “Many organisations have been concentrating their
aids on getting awaiting trial inmates out of the prison. But, we
have others facilities in the prison that require support too. We
have schools, where we trained the inmates in various
craftworks to make them useful whenever they are released
back to the society. Members of the public can also partner the
Prison Service on these programmes.”


Source. https://thenationonlineng.net/corps-members-offer-prisoners-legal-aid/

Happy to be 1 of em