ABSU LAW CLINIC REACHES OUT TO STUDENTS IN ITS IMMEDIATE ENVIRONS.Street Lawyering defines the lawyer’s services to the lay man on the street. It is similar to Public Interest Lawyering (PIL), but should be differentiated from it in that in PIL, the community is the target and the take the lead in an active process towards change while working hand in hand with the lawyer. On the other hand, street lawyering targets individuals on the street towards the broad aims of legal empowerment, sensitization and aid. Thus, street lawyering is a lawyer’s voluntary reach out to individuals in the society to arm them with knowledge of the law and to aid them in socio-economic areas of life which touch directly or indirectly on law and rights. The Absu Law Clinic like many other clinics adopt street lawyering as part of the broad spectrum services it renders which range from prison services Alternative Dispute Resolution, interview and counselling, to PIL. On March 5th, 2013 the wind of street lawyering from the Absu law clinic blew to the International Secondary School, Uturu. Fired with passion for law on the street, a band of clinicians stormed the school to speak with a section of students aged between 14 and 17 years. What follows is a recap of the thrilling experience of the clinicians and the wondrous response of the enthused students.The Clinic, the Police, and Your RightsAfter the vice principal welcomed the clinicians and introduced them to the students gathered, the team leader, Abajuo Reason Emma, opened the exercise with his introductory remarks. He presented the structure of the exercise which as explained will feature discusses on the nature of the Absu Law Clinic, community policing and people’s rights to dignity of human person and personal liberty, and sexual harassment. Subsequently as he explained, there would be breakout sessions wherein the students will have a near one-on-one interaction with clinicians. He concluded his remarks by encouraging the students to maintain ambiance and co-operate fully with the clinicians in order to benefit fully from the exercise. He now introduced Emma Akuma to speak on the nature of Absu Law clinic. Emma Akuma in his usual conversational manner took the students through the nature of Absu Law clinic. The Absu law clinic was established by the Network of Universities’ legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) in 2004. The Absu clinic is an in-house clinic of the Clinical Legal Education (CLE) programme of the Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria which provides pro bono legal services to members of the public. Student-clinicians have the opportunity to take part in hands-on legal work for the benefit of the community under the supervision of professionally qualified members of staff. He went on to explain the services rendered in the clinic: prison services, Alternative Dispute Resolution, interview and counselling, Public Interest Lawyering, etc. He encouraged the students to spread the message of the clinic to any who needs to know and refer such persons to the clinic for legal assistance. Leaving the stage, he invited the team leader to talk on community policing and human rights.Reason Emma defined community policing as the system wherein both community members and the police work together to ensure enforcement and security. His discourse was patterned towards changing the orientation of the students towards the police. The message was: “the police is your friend”. However, pointing out common abuses of human rights by the police which abuses especially infringe the rights to dignity of the human person and personal liberty, the speaker went on to explain how the students can avoid such possible abuses by explaining their rights politely to such officers. He also pointed out what they could do when such rights are eventually breached in forms of unlawful arrest, prolonged detention, and assaults: seeking legal aid. At this point, the role of the clinic in this regard was highlighted and the students were encouraged to report any of such abuses to the clinic and to encourage their parents, uncles, and others who can’t afford a lawyer to do same. The speaker also touched on possible abuses in the school which include bullying. He encouraged the students to report to the school authority whenever they are bullied. Leaving the stage, he welcomed another clinician to take up sexual harassment.Nnadi Moses pointed out that sexual harassment is a breach to the fundamental right to dignity of human person. He defined sexual harassment as any unwanted sexual advances, request for sexual favours and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which adversely affects an individual’s work or school performance by making it hostile or intimidating. He explained that that sexual harassment could be from any man to a woman and vice versa and could be done even through social networks. He encouraged the students to reject any of such advances and to report any harassment to the school authorities. He explained that the height of harassment is rape and invited another clinician to take that up.Nissi Ogbonna clearly explained the legal position on rape and emphasized it as an offence punishable by law upon conviction. She, however, advised the students to avoid circumstances that could lead to such ugly experience by avoiding provocative wears, staying in a lonely place with the person of the opposite sex not related by blood, or even taking lonely paths alone. She also dealt on what a rape victim should do immediately after the act: report to the authorities, see a doctor, and report to the police.After this, the team leader broke the students into five groups wherein the students interacted with two clinicians per group: Nweke Valentine and Ukachukwu Ifeyinwa headed group 1; Chinwendu Edede and Benjamin Ajunwa headed group 2; Obumneme Prosper and Chidiadi Madumere headed group 3; Maduako Emeka and Okoli Chioma headed group 4; and Ozioma Alaribe headed group 5.The exercise ended with photo sessions of the clinicians with cross sections of the students.