By Amaka Agbaih
The Director-General of Legal Aid Council Mr. Aliyu Bagudu Abubakar played host to the Advisory Committee Meeting on force Order 20. The meeting which took place last week Wednesday was held at the headquarters conference room. The essence of the meeting was to chat the way forward for the progress of Police Duty Solicitor Scheme (PDSS).
The Director General, who is also the Co-Chairman of the committee in his opening remark, welcomed all the stakeholders and appreciated them for their sacrifices so far on the implementation of PDSS. The chairman explained that the meeting could not hold for a period of two years largely because of the Covid-19 which grounded the whole World Nigeria inclusive.
However, he was optimistic that the meeting will yield result. The Committee members that were present at the meeting are representatives from the office of the attorney General of the Federation, REPLACE, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) OSIJI National Human Rights Commission, Nigeria Bar Association, National Orientation Agency, Rule of Law, etc.
After observing the necessary protocol, the committee deliberated on the various challenges that have hindered the smooth running of PDSS. It therefore, resolved to pay a courtesy visit to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Usman Alkali Baba to discuss all the obstacles confronting the scheme bearing in mind that it’s the Police baby. To drive home all the articulated issues raised, a 5 man co-ordination sub-committee force order was set up with the following terms of reference.
To develop a strategic plan as touching to funding, Sensitization Communication and advocacy and the sub-committee were drawn from NBA, NYSC and LAC.
To a lay man: A force order is a statutory instrument under the police act. It regulates the operations and powers of the Nigeria Police Force. Force Order is made by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and has nationwide effect. Force order 20 addresses “Free legal services to detained persons in Police formations” PDSS therefore, is a mechanism for its delivery. For further explanation, it seeks to address the challenges of pre-trial detention in Nigeria.
A duty solicitor or a duty lawyer is a solicitor whose services are available to a person either suspected of, or charged with, a criminal offence free of charge, if the person in question does not have access to a solicitor of their own and usually if, it is evident that he or she cannot afford one. Ordinarily a person arrested by the police is not supposed to remain in custody beyond 24 hours, but the question is, how many Nigerians are in the picture of this scheme? Many do not have an idea where to turn or whether they should ask for a solicitor to represent them at the court or police station.
The legal aid council and open society justice initiative as far back as 2004/2005 collaborated and designed the initial framework which is the creation of a computer – based criminal justice information management system to monitor the movement of cases from the point of arrest to the conclusion of the case.
The scheme started with 16 Young Lawyers who are on National service to their father land and within a short period of time secured the release of over 13,000 criminal suspects from police stations and prisons now custodian centres from the four pilot state namely Ondo, Sokoto, Imo and Kaduna but today through the efforts of the frontiers more successes have been recorded as the Country now have it in Kebbi, Edo, Ibadan, Lagos, FCT.
The major bottleneck as identified by the stakeholders is the manner in which our Nigeria Police arrest and detain suspects who may be innocent. Nigerian should know that duty Solicitors are knowledgeable in their field and ever ready to assist persons in the Custody of Police. Nigerians should learn how to speak out and seek for help because a closed mouth is a closed destiny.
The Government through her agencies, parastatals has put certain mechanism to see that the Justice Sector in Nigeria works. The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not left out in the arrangement. They are collaborating with relevant organizations for the good of the masses.
The Police duty solicitor scheme with the backing of force order 20 is a good thing that is happening to Nigerians and the Justice Sector. However, many Nigerians will come to appreciate it more when it is fully implemented across the Federation because at that level majority of the masses will be in the picture of what PDSS is all about. PDSS in a nutshell will correct the injustice being meted out on some people by the Nigeria Police as only established offenders will be arrested and detained by our various custodian centre.
It should be recalled that Legal Aid Council, the voice of the voiceless is a government parastatal being supervised by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The Council was established in the year 1976 and was charged with the mandate of providing free Legal Aid Services to the indigent Nigerians who cannot afford the services of private legal practitioners.
More importantly, the council has not failed in this aspect as many Nigerians have enjoyed free access to justice and also have their cases settled through. To bring its services down to the grassroots, Legal Aid Council has Offices in every state capital and some local government Areas. In Abuja, it has FCT office at the Federal Secretariat Complex, with office in Bwari and Gwagwalada Area Councils. Head office annex is located in Area 3, Garki, Abuja. This is done to serve the populace better. In their own wisdom, LAC established an office in Karu Local Government secretariat bearing in mind that most people that work in Abuja reside there.
Amaka Agbaih writes in from Legal Aid Council, Abuja
