ABSU LAW CLINIC EMBARKS ON PRISON VISIT. The ABSU Law Clinic with the mandate to provide access to justice for the indigent members of the society did indeed embark on the Prison visit scheduled for the 11th and 12th day of June, 2013 and we recorded a successful visit though beset with obstacles. The students were divided into groups for the different Prisons. Okigwe had two (2) different groups of about 20persons and a group visited on 11th while the other group visited today being the 12th. They had access to the inmates and obtained information to enable the Clinic take steps to avail them of justice. The group for Umuahia encountered minor difficulties as they were not able to interview the inmates on 11th but were asked to return the next day being the 12th which they did. The visit culminated in their obtaining information from inmates and gathering data relevant to take further steps to avail the inmates of access to justice. The group for Aba Prisons visited the Prisons in aba, though we were received, we were adamantly refused access to the inmates, this the Clinic was informed was as a result of our inability to effect any release since the inception of our visits and we were informed alternatively to send questionnaires if we needed any information. A detailed report will be subsequently made available.

ABSU LAW CLINIC SCHEDULES ITS PRISON VISIT. In its quest to enhance and provide access to justice for indigent members of the society, the Clinic has scheduled its Prison visit for the 11th and 12th of June, 2013, this is in culmination of the Prison seminar which held on the 30th of April, 2013 on the theme 'Enhancing access to justice' ,the ethics of visiting the Prisons were addressed and the role of different organisation in enhancing and promoting access to justice. A detailed report will be updated subsequently.

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.

ABSU LAW CLINIC SENSITIZATION CUM KNOW YOUR RIGHT PROGRAMME IN ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY. On The 4th of March 2013 clinicians from Abia State University Law Clinic embarked on a street law sensitization cum know your rights programme in the school environs. The programme was aimed at sensitizing the students of Abia State University on their rights .The movement started from the Faculty of Law and progressed to the Faculty of Education, the nearest faculty to the law faculty. They visited the Faculties of Humanities, Environmental, Biological and Physical Sciences, Business Administration and The College of Medicine and Health Science. At each stop the students were enlightened on their rights. Some of such rights include; the right to enforce tenancy agreement and have recourse to the clinic for any breach thereof, fundamental human rights in its entirety and also the right to information. The law students made use of the public address system through which they called out to the students to take cognizance of their rights and have recourse to the clinic in the case of breach of any of such rights, fliers of ABSU Law Clinic were passed out and the clinicians also interacted on a one on one basis with students found on the walk way, in kiosks and every place they went by. The programme also stretched to the school cafeteria, male and female hostels and auditorium. The programme came to an end at the school auditorium when the clinicians had successfully gone through all the hot spots in school.

Report of the One-Day CLE Workshop on the Freedom of Information Act which held on January 30th 2013 at Faculty of Law,Abia State University, Uturu,Abia State. . BACKGROUND It is common saying that knowledge is power. In this light, to give meaning to the words of the Nigerian constitution, to wit, “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority”, it is imperative that the Nigerian people be empowered with knowledge. This knowledge involves being aware of the extent to which the government and its agencies are using such powers vested on them by the people. If popular sovereignty were to be assured, then, free access to information should be a right of the people. Erstwhile, the trend in Nigeria has deny access to information as a right of the people. In fact, in most penal legislations in Nigeria, divulging some classes of information has been criminalized. To this end, borne by the desire to bring the Nigerian society in touch with contemporary reality, the National legislature passed into law the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011. This Act proves to be the sabre of true democracy possessed especially by the true knights of democracy — the people. Clinical legal education aims to help students hone their knowledge and skills in all areas, including the following: Access to Justice, Street Law Program, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Prison Service, Public Interest Lawyering, and Interview and Counselling. The issue is whether or not the FOI Act is relevant to clinical legal education. This workshop organised by Law Clinicians of the Abia State University (ABSU) Law Clinic proves the relevance of the Act. The participants comprised of about 200 students who are in their fourth and final years of study respectively. OPENING ADDRESS: Mr. Okoroafor in welcoming all to the workshop highlighted that the aim of the workshop was to sensitize student clinicians in the 400 and 500 levels of study. The object of the sensitization in this case was the Freedom of Information Act, a legislation enacted in 2011. For him, the FOI Act affects everyone; it is a foundation of open governance, and opening free participation in governance. He went further to say that information is the oxygen of democracy; hence, only when citizens are properly informed can they participate fully in governance. Information, as he explained, is the bridge between good government and bad government, the latter being a purveyor of inefficiency in government Given this fact, the FOI Act is Nigeria’s attempt to reverse the trend towards a shift to good governance. He concluded on the note that the workshop will expose the strengths of the FOI Act and will also bring to light the exceptions contained therein. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2011 RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Ikechukwu. The workshop was organized in plenary and breakout sessions. The plenary sessions served the purpose of pace setting and provided a platform for analysing group reports after the breakout sessions. The breakout sessions, however, were used as interim feedback mechanism to test the assimilation rate of the students and ensure learning. The entire workshop was planned to last for three hours. (Other details as per structure are contained in the Workshop Structural Plan annexed to this report). Background of the FOI Act In May 28, 2011, the FOI Act was passed into law, a variant of other 93 FOI legislations worldwide. The first was the Swedish FOI Law in 1766. South Africa’s FOI Act was enacted in 2000. In Nigeria, the advocacy for the Act started in 1993; hence, Nigeria’s FOI Act has the record of a legislation that stayed in the bill stage for the longest time. Its goals include inter alia, making public records more freely available, providing public access to public records and information, and protecting public records, information, and personal privacy. Erstwhile, the notion of “classified information” privy to only public officials was exaggerated. However, since 1766 the understanding that individuals have a right to information has gained wide acceptance such that, now, scholars argue that it is a fundamental right. As such, not all classes of information treated as “classified” need be so. The ideological foundations of the FOI Act came from the principles outlined by the United Nations, flowing particularly from Article 19 UDHR. These principles include: i. Maximum Disclosure. By this it is meant that the government should disclose information through various media. The Nigerian FOI Act provides for about 40 classes of information that should be proactively disclosed. The Act makes it a duty for public institutions to produce such information whether or not a request has been made to that effect by citizens. ii. Obligation to Publish iii. Promotion of Open Government iv. Limited Scope of Exceptions. With this principle, exceptions are limited to public issue exceptions and public interest overrides. v. Process to Facilitate Access. vi. Cost: No cost should be attached to provision of information except standard cost of duplication. vii. Disclosure Should Take Precedence. The proposed legislation should obtain notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other legislation. Overview of the FOI Act The FOI act has 32 sections. Sections 31 and 32 are interpretation and citation sections respectively. Section 1 creates the right to freedom of information for every individual. Section 2 provides for 40 classes of information that should be proactively disclosed. Section 3 provides for access to records. It provides for procedure to make request for access to records. These records are gotten from public institutions which term broadly comprises institutions that use public funds, institutions that render public services, or private institutions that make use of public funds wholly or partly. Section 4 fixes the limit for release of information at 7 days. Section 5 provides for transfer of application which holds where the institution applied to lacks the information sought after, but can transfer the application to another institution having the information. By virtue of section 7, where there is wrongful denial of access to information, the remedy is a fine of N500, 000 on the defaulting institution. More so, section 10 makes it an offence to destroy or falsify records punishable upon conviction with a minimum of 1-year imprisonment. Whilst sections 12-17 provide for exceptions to the right to freedom of information, section 27 protects public officers from anything to the contrary in the Criminal Code, Penal Code, and Official Secrets Act against exposing unethical; conducts of superiors. Overview of Clinical Legal Education Clinical legal education provides practical training to law students. Such training helps the students to harness skills in legal drafting, communication, and advocacy. Breakout Sessions The different groups outlined the relevance of the FOI Act to some areas covered by clinical legal education. For time constraints, the groups were reduced to four instead of six. Group 1: Relevance of the FOI Act, 2011 to Street Law Program Leader: Onyebuchi Nwoko Rapporteurs: Esther Madumere & Chinwendu Egege The Street Law Program connotes the dissemination of the legal rights accruing to members of the society. The FOI Act is beneficial in these regards: i. Informing the public and creating awareness as regards citizens’ right to information; ii. It has also sensitized the public on enforcement mechanisms put in place. From the Facilitator: The introduction of the FOI Act logically extends the scope of the Street Law program. The usual concentration on school-age girls and village women must be expanded to cover even students in tertiary institutions and professionals in all works of life. Group 2: Impact of FOI Act on Alternative Dispute Resolution Leader: Njoku Chioma Rapporteurs: Orji Chidinma & Nwachukwu Christian The FOI Act expedites sensitization of the existence of the ADR mechanism. From the Facilitator: Initiating a Freedom of Information request can serve as a veritable alternative in some cases. The introduction of a FOI request could really affect a litigation process especially if there are no grounds for the litigation. Group 3: Relevance of the FOI Act to Prison Services Leader: Okafor Chinyere Rapporteurs: Ogbonna Nissi & Ajunwa Ikechukwu Prison services are functions of the clinic which make pro bono legal services available to prisoners. The FOI Act will aid the retrieving of records particular to prisoners or detainees that need the services of the clinic. Given the 7-day limit, the FOI act also makes for speedy retrieval. From the Facilitator: Through the FOI Act, such information as concerning the funds earmarked by the government for the general welfare of the prisoners and the modes of its use should be readily available for disclosure upon request pursuant to the FOI Act. Group 4: Relevance of the FOI Act to Public Interest Lawyering Leader: Ihekwoaba Chuks Rapporteurs: Okezie Obioma & Ngwobia Nneoma PIL involves using the law and its instruments to aid members of society towards effecting social change. By the group’s assessment, FOI Act benefits PIL in that it sensitizes public institutions as regards their obligation to make proactive disclosure of information. From the Facilitator: Given the Act’s existence, clinicians can now participate in PIL through making requests that will reveal human rights violations or other wrongs perpetrated to the detriment of the public. Students’ Assessments The views expressed by the students are an indication of the impact the workshop had on them. A random selection of some of such views are delineated below; Nweke Valentine Chukwuebuka - 500level I got acquainted with my right to request for information on the goings on in the government and public institutions and such demands being as of right and not privilege. Ngwobia Nneoma Ibe – 500level I was enlightened in the workshop on my right to request for information and the few exceptions to those rights. The workshop was educative, informative and an eye opener. Nnadi Moses – 500level The workshop was mind blowing and a great exposure. It is something everyone, not law students alone should be exposed to. Nwoko Emezue – 400level My newly acquired knowledge on my right to information is a piece of knowledge that equals an arsenal and proper use therefrom would make for a better democracy. Chikezie Kingsley Lazarus – 400level The knowledge I acquired on the Freedom of Information Act is one which is unparalleled. It places the information seeker above the other party since all its words are construed in hisfavour. It was indeed an educative workshop. Recommendations Arming everyone with the Act and continual emphasis on the importance of the FOI Act are steps required to be taken in the journey of utilizing the Act for clinical activities. Couching the theme of the Street Law Programme around the impact and importance of the FOI Act is also recommended. Also, owing to the great reception of this workshop in the Faculty of Law and the students’ assessment of it a bigger and better workshop could be organized the entire ABSU community but for the problem of funding. Conclusion To conclude the exercise, the facilitator presented materials from the Right to Know Initiative which includes printed copies of the Freedom of Information Act, Understanding the Freedom of Information Act: 10 salient features and 10 myths of the Act and 23 reasons for the Freedom of Information Act. The materials were for the Faculty Library and the Clinic to aid in the further spread of the gospel of the Act. The facilitator also called for a patriotic disposition towards the use of the FOI Act. After the closing prayer by Kelechi Chris, there were photo sessions of the clinicians with the facilitator and the Lecturers present. Among those in attendance were Dr. Unegbu (the Former Acting Dean), Dr. Okoronye (Coordinator, Faculty Post-Graduate School), Mr. Emeka Okoroafor (CLE Supervisor) and Mr. Uzoma Ikechukwu, the workshop’s facilitator.

ABSU Law Clinic holds its 1st Workshop on the Freedom of Information Act

It is common saying that knowledge is power. In this light, to give meaning to the words of the Nigerian constitution, to wit, “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority”, it is imperative that the Nigerian people be empowered with knowledge. This knowledge involves being aware of the extent to which the government and its agencies are using such powers vested on them by the people. If popular sovereignty were to be assured, then, free access to information should be a right of the people.

Erstwhile, the trend in Nigeria has deny access to information as a right of the people. In fact, in most penal legislations in Nigeria, divulging some classes of information has been criminalized. To this end, borne by the desire to bring the Nigerian society in touch with contemporary reality, the National legislature passed into law the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011. This Act proves to be the sabre of true democracy possessed especially by the true knights of democracy — the people.

Clinical legal education aims to help students hone their knowledge and skills in all areas, including the following: Access to Justice, Street Law Program, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Prison Service, Public Interest Lawyering, and Interview and Counselling. The issue is whether or not the FOI Act is relevant to clinical legal education. This workshop organised by Law Clinicians of the Abia State University (ABSU) Law Clinic proves the relevance of the Act. The participants comprised of about 200 students who are in their fourth and final years of study respectively. 

Watch out for a detailed report!