NBM offers free legal services to Prisoners in Edo

As part of plans to help the Nigeria Government decongest the prisons, the Neo-Black Movement of Africa, has embarked on a free legal services to prison inmates in prisons across Edo state.

Legal adviser to the group, Hope Aliu on Monday disclosed this when on behalf of the group donated a 3, 000 litre water tank, 20 cartons of soap and 6.5KVA generator to the Benin Prison at Sapele road where he said the initiative was to reduce the effect of the economic hardship on some inmates who are detained and awaiting trial for trivial reasons.

Aliu said the NBM is offering probono services to the inmates as over 80 per cent of them have no business in prison if there was a strong criminal justice system to quicken the dispensation of law.

“NBM of Africa has identified the Nigeria Prison inmate as the very less privilege members of the society that deserves it humanitarian and charitable services, in its quest to achieve its fundamental objectives and directive principles of striving to eradicate all forms of oppression, intimidation, corruption, injustice, neo-colonialism and other vices in the society.

“It is also disheartening that nothing is being done to actually decongest the prisons. You can imagine how much is spent to cater for 700 inmates in this economic recession, when 80 percent of such inmates have no business being in the facility in our criminal justice system are working perfectly.

“Something the government must look into urgently is the issue of perfection of bail. Professional sureties should be legalised in this country. A lot of persons in custody are there because they have no access to qualified sureties. If professional sureties are allowed to operate, it will help reduce the problem to a reasonable extent”. He said.