ONCE UPON A CLINIC

Once upon a Clinic in an old country side-Gwagwalada
Exceptional in kind and unique in character
Hers, a Clinic with no "panadol", nor "maloxine" in sight
devoid of those white coated pacers of both day and night.

She boasts not of a single medical might
Yet, many a patient cast on her their numerous plights
And with her infant soldiers made of "black" and "white"
She heals every patient's fright
Delivering to him/her hope, and a future bright.

She prescribes none but the appropriate law
Applicable to every patient with precision bereft of flaw
And even without fear piercing syringes, she injects the society with justice raw
Delivering mankind from injustice's claws.

She strives to live her dreams
Of being a "Voice to the Voiceless"
...helping the "thirsty ones" drink from freedom's abundant stream.
Thus, everywhere her achievements abound
From north to South, both in villages and in cosmopolitan towns.

Everywhere, her praise is on the lips of all,
Male and female, big and small.
Her greatness spans from the desert plains of Bauchi
Through the rain forests in Auchi
Not leaving out the oil rigs in Uyo
Crossing through the red earthed hills of Nsukka,
Extending to the town of great Luther
Touching down on the pinnacle of the cocoa House in Oyo.

Yesterday (3/3/2014), was another proof of her numerous successes
As she brought succour to 36 unjustified prison hostages
In her effort to rid our prison system of the "Unlawful Detention Syndrome" (UDS)
Bravo to that great Clinic, called "The University of Abuja Law Clinic"
...I'm glad I belong!
(To be Contd)

Penned by Uboho Emmanuel Inyang
In acknowlegement of the recent feat attained by The Clinic in securing the release of 36 Prison detainees from Kuje Prison.

...Dedicated to the Co-ordinator(Barr. Nasiru Mukhtar) and all Uni-Abuja Law Clinicians, who tarried the nights, toiled through days, giving up their comforts to see this happen. Bravo!!

The University of Abuja Law Clinic Releases 36 Pre-Trial Inmates

Great excitement, celebration and joy hit the University of Abuja, on the 3rd of March 2014, as the clinic team successfully secured the release of 36 awaiting trial detainees, who had little or no hope of accessing justice and getting released from the confines of the Kuje Prison. This milestone achievement was made possible through the doggedness and diligence of the law clinicians backed by the strong support and leadership of the Clinic Coordinator, Barrister Nasiru Mukhtar and the profound support of NULAI. This is indeed is an encouragement to do more for the society.

Awaiting Trial Detainees; when you hear this, what comes to mind is those who have been confined to the prisons, waiting to be tried by a court. Well, I have discovered there is more to an awaiting trial detainee in Nigeria than the name suggests. The experience with the 36 awaiting trial detainees from the Kuje prison who were accused of public nuisance, speaks about the decay in the mechanisms to our access to justice, which encompasses the police, the court and the prison system.

It will interest one to know that these awaiting trial detainees, face such problems as not having access to a legal representation (which according to section 8 & 10 of the Legal Aid Act 2011 should be provided for those who can't afford it), non availability of a prosecutor, and baseless accusations with no proper investigation.

But for the intervention of the University of Abuja Law Clinic, these 36 awaiting trial detainees would have been, maybe forgotten within the high walls of the Kuje Prisons for a long time, and their prime age wasted, as is the case of several other awaiting trial detainees. On the 29th of January 2014, the law clinic approached the Kuje prison in a bid to help some awaiting trial detainees who have been facing certain difficulties that deterred them from their right to access to a fair hearing before a judge. Members of the Law Clinic interviewed a handful of them and discovered that there were 36 persons accosted for public nuisance cases. These people were arrested some months ago for sleeping in uncompleted buildings because they were homeless. For a living, they do menial jobs like scavenging waste bins, water hawking, shoe repairing and the likes. Obviously, a water hawker who makes an average of N400 daily would scarcely afford a decent meal, talk less of affording any form of shelter. Although they were granted bail for a sum each (not less than N5,000) and were asked to provide a surety who is a civil servant or who owns a landed property in Abuja. It beats one's understanding how a person with no roof over his head, and no form of savings would manage to get a surety with a landed property in Abuja. This could even encourage such persons to vie into options of becoming political thugs or joining terrorist sects.

The Law Clinic contacted some pro bono lawyers who represented the 36 awaiting trial detainees at the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court and also contacted some relatives of the detainees, who confirmed that they had been experiencing difficulties in getting the requirements for the bail, because they were people with no relatives who were civil servants nor owned landed properties in Abuja.

On the 18th of February which was the hearing date in court, out of 36 persons, only 5 were conveyed to court by the prison officials for hearing. The Magistrate had to adjourn the case to the 3rd of march 2014. Again, on the 3rd of March, the same problem repeated itself and only 19 accused persons were conveyed to court. The prison officials complained of logistic problems in transporting them at once. Graciously, the Magistrate had to stand down the case, stressing that the law does not allow him to deal with them separately, since they were arrested together. The remaining persons were finally conveyed to court after about some hours, and the most lenient magistrate acquitted the 36 accused persons after the counsels made their submissions. The Magistrate however, strictly stated that they all have to return to their various states where they could easily find accommodations.