Group secures release of 12 inmates pro bono

A group of young lawyers committed to providing pro bono legal services and representation to vulnerable, indigent and marginalised people and communities, Call A Lawyer, said it has secured the release of 12 indigent inmates.

This was made known in a statement sent to our correspondent on Monday.

The founder of the group, Stanley Ekpa, stated that the release of the inmates was facilitated through its release and employ program.

He explained that the 12 inmates were those “who have the option of fine but could not afford to pay. The programme was designed to secure the release, train, rehabilitate, reintegrate, gainfully engage and employ the beneficiaries in different sectors of the economy.”

The 12 were from the Keffi Custodial Centre.

The statement read in part, “Call A Lawyer received a total of thirty human rights abuse complaints via the Call A Lawyer system, out of which twenty cases have been resolved, mostly through out of court settlements. Out of the thirty complaints, seventeen complaints are related to domestic violence, two employment complaints, and other police abuse related cases. Call A Lawyer is working to ensure that every resident in Nigeria have access to legal representation, no matter their social and financial status.

“It is not enough to seek the release of inmates without providing windows of opportunities to productively engage and reintegrate them back into the society, hence, Call A Lawyer seeks to partner with stakeholders like the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, National Directorate of Employment, National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council, Public Complaints Commission, and other relevant stakeholders within the employment ecosystem in Nigeria.”

The group stated that it partnered the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Bar Bar Association, particularly the Young Lawyers Forum, International Federation of Women Lawyers, National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council, among other stakeholders within the human rights community to ensure a collaborative action and commitment to human rights protection in Nigeria.