RULAAC says the community access to justice will also include legal representation for poor and most vulnerable victims
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), on Thursday, launched a “Community Access to Justice and Criminal Justice Interactive project,” an initiative to help poor Nigerians get justice.
The project was borne out of the concern that the Nigerian justice system has become too difficult for the poor to access.
With support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) now OSF Africa, RULAAC hopes to make the courts become the true last hope of the common man, not just the privileged few who could afford the services of lawyers.
At a press conference in RULAAC’s new office in Lagos, executive director of the human rights watchdog, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said the project has the specific objectives of building the capacities of citizens to monitor and report incidents and human rights violations and enhance access to justice to the poor and more vulnerable victims.
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According to Nwanguma, the project is being implemented in four target states namely; Anambra, Lagos, Rivers and Kaduna. Although Kaduna may be yanked off the list because of the troubling security crisis, and replaced with another.
Nwanguma said: “Under this project, we are training selected human rights monitors and engaging the trained monitors to monitor and report incidents of attack in some communities in the target states. This will entail interviews with community members and other key informants and relevant stakeholders and constructing a narrative capturing the true experience of the community.
“We will also engage litigation officers to monitor and carry out the timely intervention, and accurate reporting of cases of human rights violations,” he says.
The monitors RULAAC says, would engage with police authorities in the various states, intervene and resolve cases of daily police abuse especially focussing on the poor and most vulnerable. “This will include legal representation for poor and most vulnerable victims,” he says.
A lawyer, Samuel Akpologun who coordinates the legal team of the project said the poor in Nigeria bear the greatest brunt of the impunity and corruption in the country but lack the means to access justice because it is very expensive or has been made deliberately so. Hear him: “Why on earth should a judge have 1,000 cases to handle. Magistrates take turns using courtrooms. And because it becomes difficult to push for your right, it becomes normal for the poor to lick their wound and give up.”
He says the project anchored by RULAAC will change the tide and help poor folks access justice.
Buhari govt exists in name only
Nwanguma decried the high level of insecurity in the country which has worsened under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Nwanguma, the government now only exist in name owing to its manifest failure in all the departments of government.
He says: “The situation in Nigeria has never been as tragic before as it is today. If we do a flashback to the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan when, on account of insecurity, corruption and mismanagement of the economy, Buhari and other chieftains of the APC who were then in the opposition, marched freely in the city of Abuja in what they tagged ‘Salvation Rally’ protesting against the menace of Boko Haram, the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls and many other security challenges, we may probably feel a sense of nostalgia.
“In 2014, Buhari and key members of his government including Lai Mohammed, Ogbonnaya Onu, Chibuike Amaechi, Femi Gbajabiamila, among others, accused the Jonathan government of corruption, of not being respectful of the rule of law; they called him incompetent and asked him to resign. They promised change and asked Nigerians to vote for them to turn Nigeria around and take Nigerians to the proverbial Promised land flowing with milk and honey.
“Today, 7 years after Buhari took over, insecurity has worsened rather than abate. Bandits, kidnappers, rapists, and terrorists have taken over the land and fully in control with the government completely absent. Corruption looks more like the fundamental objective and directive principle of the Buhari administration, with corrupt public officials protected by impunity. Rule of law is in abeyance as court orders, the Constitution and other laws are ignored by government officials and agencies with the president leading the way.”
Aloof Buhari allows PSC/NPF standoff to linger
Nwanguma frowns at the continued silence of Buhari as the Nigeria Police Force continues to engage the Police Service Commission (PSC) in a needless and endless dispute over police recruitment.
He says: “Since the law is clear on the mandates and powers of the NPF and the PSC respectively, especially after the Appeal Court clarified the matter in a 2019 ruling, it was expected that the dispute would be over. The Court of Appeal had nullified the recruitment of 10,000 constables conducted by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, in 2019. The appellate court also declared as illegal aspects of the Police Act 2020, which illegally transferred the mandate of police recruitment to the NPF.
“The President ought to have intervened by telling each of the agencies to stick to their mandate as stipulated by the Constitution and their respective establishment laws, and as clarified by the subsisting order of the Appeal Court on the subject matter. As usual, pecuniary interest is at the root of this conflict as police recruitment is a huge opportunity for corruption.”
A free-for-all with PTF funds
Nwanguma says since September 2021, the ICPC has been investigating allegations of mismanagement of over N11 billion Police Trust Fund and the procurement of substandard equipment for the police.
“It has been 7 months since this investigation commenced based on a petition by some disgruntled members of the PTF Board of Trustees alleging that the management of the PTF contravened the approval and procurement procedures, mismanaged funds and procured substandard equipment for the police which could put the officers in harm’s way. This has sabotaged the objective of improving funding for the police to enhance their welfare and operational capabilities and ultimately improve security. We call on the ICPC for the umpteenth time to conclude that investigation, make the findings public and ensure that those who are found culpable are brought to account.”
A highlight of the event includes the formal opening of RULAAC’s office which was done by the executive director of Spaces for Change, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri. She commended RULAAC for the new office, saying it would aid its work of holding exposing the ills of government officials.
Bose Ironsi, the executive director of the Women’s Rights and Health Project, attended the event.