Death Penalty: Hope Behind Bars, others, prepare Nigerian lawyers for pro bono legal services

Bodies canvassing for the abolishment of death penalty for capital offenders in the country have commenced comprehensive training for Nigerian lawyers to increase their commitment to pro bono legal services.

The group committed to this project include, Hope Behind Bars Africa, Center for Legal Support and Inmate Rehabilitation and The Inclusion Project.

According to the organizers, bodies committed to the project are all members of the Nigerian Alumni of the Makwanyane Institute named after the landmark judgement of the South African Constitutional Court which presided over the decision abolishing the death penalty in South Africa.

The three-day transformative Train-the-Trainers Workshop for Criminal Defense Lawyers in Nigeria and Ghana was hosted on Wednesday in Abuja by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

The theme of the event was, “Defending Persons Facing Death Penalty” and it was funded in part by the Makwanyane Institute Stewardship Grant.

Speaking at the launch, Founder and Executive Director, Hope Behind Bars Africa, Oluwafunke Adeoye, disclosed that the workshop will prepare lawyers to provide quality legal services to capital offenders and at the same time, to increase their knowledge and expertise in criminal defense as well as increase their commitment to pro bono legal services, which they can on their own continue to extend to other indigent persons.

According to Adeoye, the trained capital defenders will also be encouraged to conduct cascade training for other regional lawyers.

She said the workshop will feature facilitation from prominent legal luminaries and capital defense lawyers, including: Professor of Law and Criminal defense lawyer, Founder and Executive Director, Centre for Legal Support and Inmate Rehabilitation (CELSIR), Celia Rumann; Co-founder, Inclusion Project, Aladesanmi Joke Olamiposi; Founder, The Sunshine Series, Pamela Okoroigwe; Senior Partner at Obour, Minta and Co, Accra-Ghana, Aisha Abdullahi Bubah; Mohammed Muniru Kassim, among others.

Also Speaking, CELSIR Executive Director, Joke Aladesanmi said, “It is your responsibility as a criminal defense lawyer to extract as much information from the client as possible, as it could make the difference that saves them from capital punishment.”