The Legal Aid Council of Nigeria in collaboration with Japanese Social Development Bank has launched Access to Justice for the Poor project
in Kaduna state aimed at providing free legal services to indigent persons in the state and the entire country.
At a media briefing in Kaduna, Director General of the Council, Mrs. Joy Bob-Manuel said the project which will run for a three year period was being facilitated by the World Bank and has already been implemented in 10 Local Government Areas of the state in 2012.
She said a total sum of $2.5 million grant was released by the World Bank for the project, adding that only $500 has so far been spent on the project.
She added that the council will open offices in 10 additional local government areas in the state and engage 10 non-governmental organizations in sensitization and training programmes.
Mrs. Bob-Manuel further added that the project is designed to reinforce existing traditional dispute resolution mechanism and discourage protracted litigation mostly in civil cases.
Other objectives of the project are to help decongest the court system, promote and protect fundamental rights of citizens while the services are free for any poor resident of the state.
Enumerating some of the challenges facing the council, she identified poor funding and inadequate manpower as their major problems and called on state and federal governments to support the council towards realizing its objectives.