LACN opens 19 law clinics, trains 5,500

No fewer than 19 law clinics that will provide legal services free of charge to the poor and vulnerable have been established in Kaduna State by the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACN). Mrs. Joy Bob-Manual, Director General of LACN disclosed this recently in Abuja on the occasion of the closing ceremony for Access to […]

No fewer than 19 law clinics that will provide legal services free of charge to the poor and vulnerable have been established in Kaduna State by the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACN).
Mrs. Joy Bob-Manual, Director General of LACN disclosed this recently in Abuja on the occasion of the closing ceremony for Access to Justice for the Poor Project (AJPP) in civil matters in Kaduna State.
Since 2011, Access to Justice for the Poor Project (AJPP) has piloted decentralized legal services for the poor and vulnerable in Kaduna State to enable them effectively enforce their socio-economic rights and resolve civil disputes.
Funded by the World Bank’s Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), LACN has increased access to legal services in Kaduna State by enhancing capacities of service providers and key stakeholders in terms of legal substance, dispute resolution tools and management.
The DG said that the clinics were opened across the three senatorial zones in LG secretariats with legal officers deployed by the National Youth Service Corps serving with the help of paralegals trained by the project.
According to her, more than 800,000 people were reached via legal rights awareness campaigns including large-scale awareness and outreach campaigns via radio and roadshows.
Her words: “Within the first eight months of 2015 more than 900 clients were served compared to 500 in 2014, 331 in 2013 and 36 in 2012.
“More than 5,500 people were trained on legal rights and alternative dispute resolution among them LACON, district heads and religious heads,” she said.
Mr. Sadanobu Kusaoke, Japan’s Ambassador to Nigeria in his remarks said that the World Bank has recorded a steep increase in the number of the poor and vulnerable people who are aware of legal aid service and have trust in using these service providers.
The ambassador said that Japan decided to support the establishment of legal aid centres to improve access for the poor and vulnerable people to legal services.
This, according to Kusaoke is an important part of Japan’s activities to promote the rule of law.