My
name is Halima Mijinyawa, a 500 level clinician from the University of Abuja
Law Clinic and this year I had the incredible opportunity of being part of the
NULAI/OSIWA Prison Pre Trial Detention Project which gave me the opportunity to
visit a prison for the first time and interact with Prisoners who are in need
of legal assistance in the prison. This experience taught me to practice my
interviewing skills, by asking the Detainees questions on what made them get
into such a situation and we got numerous stories. My team and I analyzed these
scenarios and applied what we were taught in class into practice. One of the
detainees we interviewed was charged with joint theft in court, and he was not
even involved in stealing the generator. He was just very unlucky the day they
were looking for his friend who actually stole the generator he was in the
premises to pay his friend a visit. He looked very sincere in the way he spoke
and it made me realize that most of these people in these prisons didn’t commit
these offenses they were accused of, they are in there because they are not
fully aware of their rights and how to ensure their rights are not infringed.
I
had a glance of what they were cooking and I could not really understand what
they were making, then one of my team members whispered in my ear that they are
making swallow and the swallow was looking very watery, and the environment it
was made in is very dirty and unkempt.
One
of the things that became glaringly apparent is how vital it is for Government
of Nigeria to focus on rehabilitation of the prisons. Being in the prison
premises for just few hours made me Thank God more because really people are
suffering and are helpless. The prisoners though were still full of hope that
one day they would be freed.
It
was quite an enlightening experience for me.
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