‘Nine Million People Benefit From Legal Aid Council’s Project’

The Director General of
Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Mrs Joy Bob-manuel last  Monday said that nine million people have benefitted from the “Access to Justice Project” of the council since 2014.
Bob-manuel said this when she spoke with newsmen in Abuja last Monday.
She said that the World Bank-sponsored “Access to Justice Project’’ of the council allowed people at the grassroots to have access to justice.
The DG said that the project featured some campaigns at the grassroots to enable the people to patronise centres at their doorsteps.
The campaigns were in the form of different radio programmes, awareness campaigns and workshops, she said.
She said the council, under Section 8 (2) of the Legal Aid Act 2011, was empowered to provide legal representation in cases of manslaughter and malicious or wilful grievous hurt.
According to her, the council is also empowered to offer legal representation on assault resulting in bodily harm, stealing, rape, and armed robbery.
Bob-manuel said members of staff of the council had updated their knowledge in paralegal studies to meet up with its mandate.
She said the administration staff members of the council were trained in paralegal skills to enable them take clients’ stories in the absence of lawyers.