On the 23rd of November 2016 the mantle of leadership of the Absu LawClinic was handed over to the present 500Level Lawclinicians. Our Staff Legal Advicer who is also one of the Staff clinic Co-ordinatator in the person of Barr.Emeka Okorafor conducted an election for the post of the clinic head and assistant which is the first of its kind in Absu LawClinic. Echibuogu Chinoye Evans emerged as the New Clinic Head of the 2016/2017 academic year. She was elected due to her hard work and relentless selfless service to the clinic and the public at large. Nwankwo Alex Chisom in the same vain was elected to assist the new clinic head because of his hard work to insure that the clinic moves forward. Forthwith various heads of depertments where appointed by clinic head and her assistant.
Umuahia prisons - Nwariaku prince
Okigwe prisons - ugonwanyi ahaiwe
Aba prisons - Achor Christopher
Street law - Obodoechi Brenda
File management - Ananaba Grace
Correspondence - Onunwor Chituru
ICT - Obioma Chikwendu
Treasurer - Odeh Regina
Secretary - Adindu Karen.
This appointment was done based on hard work and selfless service to the clinic work.
That same day the examination/induction of new members of clinic (Junior Clinicians) was performed. Being a Lawclinician entails strict rigorous process to be able to get the right persons for the job. The 400Level Law Students where put to a very strict test/interview. Only 30 of them where able to cross the thick tough hurdle but that doesn't mean that those that did not make it are not welcomed the most important aspect of the clinic is passion to serve humanity for free.

The Absu LawClinic says a very big congratulations to our new clinic Head Echibuogu Chinoye Evans and her able Assistant Nwankwo Alex Chisom and all the verious Heads of departments and the newly selected junior Clinicians.
We are also saying a very big thank you to our amiable Dean Faculty of Law Abia State University Pof.Sam Erugo, to our staff Legal Advicer Barr.Emeka Okorafor and also our Clinic Co-ordinatator Barr.Ewerem. Most especially we thank God almighty for the Grace to work towards the service of humanity.

On the 23rd of November 2016 the Absu Absu LawClinic held its first seminar after the relocation of Abia State University Faculty of Law to its permanent site located at P.M.B 7010 Ikot-ekpene Road Umudike, Umuahia. still battling with the relocation of its faculty organised a seminar on: FEMALE GENITAL  MUTILATION.
A resource person who is well grounded in this filed was invited to come and enlightening us about what FGM is all about. he is no other person than MR RAYMOND UKWA.
RAYMOND UKWA is well trained and grounded in what he does he has attended so many workshops and seminars on FGM. He is currently the chief consultant for TECH GLOBAL PET, SOCIAL CHANGE ADVOCATE FOR FGM UNICEF NIGERIA, AMBASSADOR AT THE GIRL GENERATION, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CHEIF STRATEGY CONSULTANT AT DEPEC GLOBAL RESOURCES, GIRL GENERATION BRAND AMBASSADOR, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PROJECTS NIGERIAN AT INTERNATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL.
In his speech gave us a clear definition of "FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION". FGM is any partial removal or total removal of the external female genital or any other injury of the female genital organs for non medical reasons (WHO 1997).
In his speech he explained the four different types of FGM.
-TYPE 1:CLITORIDECTOMY: is the partial or total removal of the clitoris, in very rear cases only the prepuce (the fold of skin  surrounding the clitoris).
-TYPE 2: EXCISION: is the partial/removal of the Clitoris and the Labia minora with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are the lips that surround the vagina).
-TYPE 3: INFIBULATION: This is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal if formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer labia with or without removal of clitoris.
-TYPE 4: ALL OTHER HARMFUL PROCEDURES FOR NON MEDICAL REASONS.
-FGM is carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15 and occasionally on adult women. In Africa, over 3million girls are estimated to be at risk for FGM  annually, more than 125million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated.
THE SITUATION OF FGM IN NIGERIA:
-Prevalence of girls and woman aged 15-49years who have undergone FGM in Nigeria is 27%.
-Nigeria has the 3rd highest absolute number of girls who have undergone FGM worldwide (after Egypt and Ethiopia).
-19.9million Nigerian women have undergone FGM approximately 16% of the 125million FGM survivors worldwide are Nigerians most prevalent among yoruba women (55%), followed by igbo women (45%).
THE QUESTION IS WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS?
-To ensure that a woman remains a virgin until marriage
-Most communities believe that if external female genitals are cut off ( the clitoris or labia or both) are unclean.
-It is a right of passage in some counties FGM is the part of the ritual that a lady undergoes to be considered a woman.
-In some countries a girl or a woman is cut in other to be suitable for marriage.
-It is believed that when a woman is mutilated it increases sexual pleasure for the me (this is more prevalent in EGYPT).
HOW DOES FGM AFFECT GIRLS OR WOMANS HEALTH IN THE LONG TERM:
-INFECTION (SUCH AS GENITAL ABSCESS).
-DEPRATION & ANXIETY.
-PAINFUL AND PROLONGED MENSTRUAL PERIODS.
-URINARY PROBLEMS.
-VESICO VAGINAL FISTULA (VVF).
This can happen when the urethra or rectum is damaged during FGM. Fistula causes some many problems including odours and can cause girls and women to become SOCIAL OUTCASTS.
IS FGM AGAINST THE THE LAW?
The Federal law outlawing the practice of FGM in Nigeria.
THE VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS (PROHIBITION) ACT (VAPP),2015.
Only 8 States in Nigeria have adopted this Law in there local laws.
ABSU LAWCLINIC JOINS THE WORLD AT LARGE FOR CAMPAIGN AND PROTEST AGAINST FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.

China's case update

Update on Chima,'s case,

On the 6th day of July, 2016. Our Student Clinicians left for the scheduled visit to the Nigerian Prisons Umuahia with Chima's relatives, unfortunately, only one of them agreed to turn up: one of his step brothers, so we went in, upon sighting his step brother, Chima was all smiles, but the brother failed to recognise the little boy at first. Until we told him he was Chima.
This was quite shocking but we later came to understand that no one enters Nigerian Prisons and comes out anything close to how he went there. This was the story of the little boy.
Amidst several intercession by the Prison Warders and other concerned prisoners who pleaded with Chima's step brother to invest in the little boy's industry rather than abandon him, one of the prisoners said  "chairman, make i tell u something, for here, na me dey take care of Chima, Chima na d only confirm barber wey we get for here, em dey make shoe, work electronics, d boy strong well well, the only reason why the boy still dey here na say me never comot, if i comot frm ds place i dey come cari ds boy go" (sic).
Although this was exactly not how we want Chima's story to end, going home with another prisoner, but it helped put home our point to the brother on why he needs to see the change and potential in the young lad, and perfect his bail bond rather than abandon him and term him a government property.
He finally agreed to act as surety, on the condition that Chima stays somewhere else  for 2 to 3 months of his release from detention so they can monitor his change sequence and that he can equally try to convince other family members on allowing the little boy back home.

We promised to come up with something and assured him of our interest in Chima's wellbeing. He asked when next we would visit the prison again, we promised to get back to him.

We are still working on the little boys profile, we see a lot of possibilities for this young lad, going forward, and we, at Absulawclinic, wish to be part of his process.

It's our duty to the Community.

AbsuLawClinic

Update on China's case.

On the 29th of June 2016, the AbsuLawClinic team went to Umuekwule in Afugiri Umuahia, to visit the relative of one of our pre trial detainee clients, a 15 years old boy, who has been remanded in Umuahia Prisons, for almost 2years, he has since been granted bail during the jail delivery exercise that took place on the 4th of May 2016.
The reason for our visit was to convince one of his relatives to be his surety.

Our Client, Chima, a 15years old orphan, with no immediate siblings except a step mum, step grandmother, and step brothers. Who see Chima as  an "Abandoned government property".
They insist that Chima is a deviant and should remain in prison custody, they are not willing to sign anything on his behalf, infact he is an abandoned property (sic).
In Chima, however, we see a juvenile delinquent with great potentials and an amazing wealth of talent. The Prison warders spoke so fondly of the little boy, they told us he could do a lot of amazing things including the ability to repair phones, make slippers, and a host of other skills,  that we grew passionate and very interested about his course.
Unfortunately, after much persuasion on our part, the relatives blatantly refused to see what we see and insisted he should remain in prison custody even after we explained that he hasn't been charged to the High Court nor at worst convicted, he is still awaiting trial for the offence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery
We succeeded nevertheless, to convince them to agree to atleast come and see the little boy in prison for the very first time since be was remanded. This agreed visit is scheduled to be done together with our student clinicians on the 6th of July, 2016, at the Umuahia Prisons, where our client is been remanded.

We do not plan to stop here, we are presently working on a profile on Chima's case to as much as we can use his story as a test case scenario to draw attention to similar cases deserving attention in Umuahia Prisons in particular and Nigerian Prisons in general.
In this regard we plan to partner with some notable N.G.O's,  Child Protection Networks and ultimately, get the attention and intervention of our parent body Nulai Nigeria,

Our Stand- Chima has no business being in prison custody as a juvenile.

Chima is an orphan left to die and ravish in prison by the relatives due to they say he is a "deviant"

Assuming without conceding their position is correct, our client remaining in prison can never be a solution. Chima needs a real guardian to help mentor and channel his amazing skills positively.

So many great men today in our society passed through this deviant stage, they were never given up on by their parents, sadly Chima has none, we the society must stand up for him.

Its our duty to the community.

AbsuLawClinic

Clinic pays a visit to the DPP

.Re. The Visit to the DPP.
The AbsuLawclinic team on the 24th June 2016 paid an advocacy visit to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the Ministry of Justice, Umuahia, Abia State.
  The essence of this visit was to formally make a report of some cases of our clients at the LawClinic with missing case files at the record department of the prisons.
The DPP Miss Onukwube, promised her coperation in the search for the missing case files. She also lamented on the lack of will by the police to forward cases to her office for proper advice, as this has made her record keeping very herrculean. She  however requested that we go back to the prisons and enquire about the name of the prosecutor handling the case, and the court that issued the remand order, as that would make her job easier.
We promised to do this in due time.

As we aim to foster the release of this persons from detention as soon as practicable. These are some of the challenges we, as supplemetary legal aid workers face in the administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria:

Attached is a copy of the stamped letter we wrote to her office  for record purposes.

Its our duty to the community.

AbsuLawClinic

Update on umuahia prisons visit

On the 17th day of May 2016, a team of Absu junior LawClinicians went to Umuahia Prisons and the High Court Complex Umuahia, this was in a bid to verify the stories of some of our clients from the record  and welfare department of the prisons, and also to get the requisite charge numbers and the  court the inmates were charged. The Junior Clinicians then went with these information to these Courts to write an application for the release of the CTC of charge sheet and record of proceedings with which we would use to process their bail application.
    At the prisons, they also requested for an interview with the inmates already admitted to bail, especially those ones their relatives do not know that they have been granted bail. The Junior Clinicians got their residential address and very soon, we would pay them a visit, In order to inform them of the good news and also convince them one on one to stand as their surety.

It's a work in progress. We are a work in progress.

Even as we teach our junior clinicians (400L students) the rudiments  of this profession, through practical learning and field work that they may continue with our legacy as we (Senior Clinicians, 500L students)move on to the next level in barely 3months time.

It's our duty to the community.

Absu LawClinic

Street Law Sensitization

Freedom of Information laws (FOI laws) allow access by the general public to data held by national governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfaction with the secrecy surrounding government policy development and decision making.

   They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions

  THE Street Law Department of the ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY Law Clinic led by Ndemole Blossom yesterday The 2nd of June 2016 paid a visit to Anglican Secondary School Okigwe, and this was to sensitise the students on their rights as enshrined in the Freedom Of Information Act 2011. The team took turns to lecture both students and staff of the School who paid rapt attention..

  This was in a bid to create awareness of the FOI act that has been in existence for a couple of years now.

A REPORT OF THE DEBATE COMPETITION BETWEEN 100 & 200LEVEL LAW STUDENTS, ORGANIZED BY THE ABSULAWCLINIC

DEBATE TOPIC; FREEDOM TO ACQUIRE INFORMATION IN NIGERIA IS PRACTICABLE. argue for or against.

The event was a success, as our guest judges, Barr Chizoba Okpara and Barr Kennedy Onyemere honoured our invitation with their presence.
   After a brief opening address by the Clinicians, our guest judges opened the competition proper, as the  contestants went in to the podium to battle it out intellectually.
    With the proposing side starting off their argument, and the opposing sides counter argument, then we entered into 5minutes of rebuttal.
  After which, the judges declared the winner to be 200Level Class ably represented by Obiwuma Blessing Chioma and Chukwu Joseph respectively. The runner up, 100Level Class was ably represented by Chiemela Gabriel Mba and Chibuike Eruka Nduri.

The Best Speaker went to Obiwuma Blessing Chioma, from 200L Class.
    Upon presentation of her prize, due to her stellar performance and exceptional poise, she was also made a Clinician for two academic days, automatically setting the record as the only clinician ever to come from a class below 400Level in the history of LawClinic in Nigeria.

  The guest judges were full of praise for the organizers; AbsuLawClinic and asked for more of this academic competitions  in the future.

   We want to say thank you to every Lawsanite that graced the event, and our teeming fans for their overflowing support  and encouragement.

Absu LawClinic

Re; THE 2nd LEG OF THE UMUAHIA PRISONS VISIT

Re; The Umuahia Prisons Department of the Absu LawClinic successfully went for the 2nd leg of their Prison Visit to Nigerian Prisons, Aba Road, Umuahia, Abia State on the 19th February, 2016.

    On the visit to the prisons, yesterday, we met with the prison authorities who ushered us in to the  Prison Hall, and gathered the inmates there to meet with us, after which we were asked to address them on our purpose for the visit.

   After this, we, a 21 man team, divided ourselves into 7 groups of 3 persons each. This was to enable us attend to as much inmates as we can within a short period of time the prison warders allotted to us for our purpose. 

   Using this method, we were able to interview a number of  45 inmates.

    Some cases we got were political, e.g a man arrested and charged for armed robbery due to and only because of his membership of I.P.O.B. some were highly delicate, e.g, a man who confessed to selling his one month old baby for #200,000 because he wanted to use #60,000 to pay for his wife's post natal complications, that we should help him. Majority of all other cases were cases of wrongful denial of bail against persons who could not afford a shortee with up to 3 years tax clearance, some other cases were cases of the famous holding charge syndrome; where persons would be deliberately charged to a court without jurisdiction to hear their matter, with the end result that the persons stay longer in detention waiting for a proper charge in the proper court, which most times takes an inordinately long time.

   A recurrent factor in all the cases we handled was that most inmates do not have a legal representative, they have never spoken to a lawyer before, but they have been charged to Magistrate Court, (a court without jurisdiction to try capital offences like armed robbery). Without persons speaking up for them.

 Also, At the prisons we saw Children of 9-12 years, young  persons of 15- 17 years, some in tears calling on us fervently to rescue them from the harsh realities they have been made to face in prison.

   As Final Year Law Students, primarily, this first hand experience of how the society is, was purely different from the laws we read in our textbooks, the various protection afforded to these persons by the law, and how things should be.

Amongst all these, The Absu LawClinic will start work immediately with all these cases at our disposal, working with all our sponsors to ensure we release as much pre-trial detainees as we can, within the bounds of the law.

Its our duty to the community.

Absulawclinic.

ABSULAWCLINIC DEBATE COMPETITION BETWEEN 100 & 200LEVEL LAW STUDENTS

The Absu LawClinic team will organise a debate competition on 16th February -18th February, 2016. Between the 100Level Students of our faculty and the 200Level Students.
   This is in line with our duty to inculcate advocacy skills and presentation skills in to our junior colleagues.
    The first stage of the competition which will hold today

16th February, 2016, will be a preliminary round from where 2 persons would be selected out of the two classes to represent the respective class at the finals which will hold on Thursday, 18th February 2016. At the Moot Court Hall, Faculty of Law Complex, Absu.
Time, 12:00pm.

There would be prizes for Best Team and Best Speaker.

Names of Participants include

100Level-
Onwuka Prince will Chimezie
Chibuike Eruka Nduri
Chiemela Gabriel Mba
Ibeh Favour Chinenye
Osueke Precious Chiamaka
Nwizu Ifeanyi Victor

200Level-
Blessing Obiwuma Chioma
Kennedy Amakolonwa
Joseph Chukwu
Thyword Nnadi
Okpara Curtis
Orji Ferdinand.



Guest judges for the finals would be, our student and Absulawclinic friendly lecturers, Barr Kennedy Onyemere,  Barr Chizoba Okpara and Barr Enwere Oguchinalu E.

Absu LawClinic

Absulawclinic Prison Visit

The Umuahia Prisons Department of the Absu LawClinic went for a prison visit  at the Nigerian Prisons Aba Road, Umuahia. (Abia State Capital) On Thursday, 11th February 2016,
    The purpose of this visit was to engineer the process of releasing pre-trial detainees. Especially persons whose cases have been looked in to but latter neglected in the long run due to one reason or another.
   The Absu LawClinic team met with the Deputy Comptroller of prisons Mr Obilor George for this reason. He welcomed the clinicians warmly and told them to come back on Friday, 19th February, 2016.
 
   The team hopes to interview and counsel this inmates, to know the main reasons for their detention, sadly, from the cases we have handled in the past, we have come to realise that most of the inmates do not even know why they are in detention, because they were just arrested without been told the offence (s) they  were arrested for, they have never been served any court papers nor have they been represented or queried by a legal practitioner.
   We hope to process their individual cases with a view to facilitate their prompt release from detention.

It's our duty to the community.

Absulawclinic