28 August 2008
Lagos — Legal Aid Council of Nigeria said it has sent a bill to the National Assembly (NASS) seeking to end restriction of indigent armed robbery suspects from getting free legal assistance.
The disclosure came at an interactive session organised for states' legal aid officers with the Director-General, Mrs. Lectitia Nwaka in Abuja.
The Council expressed regrets that its officers throughout the country were still prevented by law from providing legal services to persons charged for armed robbery but lack both finance and voice. He said the council was relying on the final assent to the bill to bring about the desired succour to those affected .
Commenting on the bill Legal Aid Officer(Lagos state), Mrs. Lateefat Salau explained that the bill seeks for an expansion to the fundamental human rights of a citizen which should not be denied or restrictive.
According to her "Legal Aid Officers over the years have had to cope regrettably with the restriction, watching helplessly how indigent offenders of the law suffer deprivation. However, legal officers are now hopeful that with the proposed bill before the National Assembly everybody will be allowed to engage the services of the Legal Aid Council".
Earlier at the opening of the interactive session, Director-General of the Council, Lectitia Nwaka urged members to be more hardworking and committed to their calling as Legal Aid Officers and not waiver due to the difficulties most times experienced in the course of taking up cases which did not come with reward from clients.
She said "I particularly called for this interactive session to enable me meet and know each of you one on one and then to remind ourselves of the great need to stand up and do what we are called to do and also chart a way forward for future responsibilities that may be unavoidable.
"I know our council is lacking in so many things including training. However, I am looking at the need for us as Legal Aid Officers to begin to attend training with other professionals to develop our versatility as compared to what presently obtain where our trainings are sponsored by donors who alone determine the terms of attendance, where and when".
On the welfare of Legal Aid Officers, many who spoke to newsmen, expressed satisfaction that the current leadership of the council had improved their allowances to manageable level.
The Legal Aid Officer in Adamawa who was recently deployed to Plateau state, Barr. Titus Lectu said the Mandatory Awareness Campaign recently carried out in all the states of the federation helped in no small way in attracting more citizens to the activities of the council as many who hitherto did not know where to turn to for legal assistance now come to "our offices."
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