I
am Salamatu Biodun Ahmed, a 400 Level Clinician of University of Abuja Law Clinic. The prison pretrial project was a very educating and inspiring one. The
significant issues that appealed to me during the course of the pretrial
project was my interaction with the detainees.
Interaction with the
detainees could be said to be a significant occurrence considering the state I
met the prison and inmates. Opportunity has not availed me to an inmate before
until the day we visited the prison for interview which of course was as a
result of the project. Neglecting the state of the prison environment was the
first thing I had in mind, if not I would not have been able to comfortably
interact with the inmates. During the course of the interview with the inmates,
I discovered not all persons in prisons are guilty of the offences charged. I
also got to know some inmates have not been to the court at all while the very
few that have been to the court do not a have legal representatives in the
court. The conditions I met the inmates was quite poor as they admitted that
they don't get absolute care and they are not treated like humans. They said
there is very limited access to medical facilities, malnutrition is also not an
exception even though they are not denied religious activities. The most
surprising thing to me was that, the first inmate I interviewed was smelling marijuana
and flies were perching over him. The second inmate I interviewed seem to have
taken the prison to be his home. This shows what the inmates go through in the
prison irrespective of their person, race, religion wealth etc.
ISSUES OBSERVED
1. Poor condition of the
prisons.
2. Malnutrition of the
detainees.
3. Over congestion of the
prisons.
4. Poor Medical
facilities.
5. Lack of legal
representative for the detainees.
6. Incessant adjournment
of cases of detainees.
HOW
THE PARTICIPATION INFLUENCED MY PERSPECTIVE.
Initially, I used to think
all detainees are guilty of the offences they are charged with. My
participation in the pretrial project has changed my notions and views about
those in the prison. I thought the prisons were meant to rehabilitate prisoners
until my participation in the pretrial project proved me wrong, exposing me to
the treatment prisoners are subjected to in the prisons.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS
EXPERIENCE.
This experience has
exposed me to the core values of a lawyer which includes empathy, patience,
tolerance and not being judgmental. Importantly, it has given me a wide scope
of client interviewing which practically has really helped to obtain
information from the detainees interviewed.
HOW THE THINGS I OBSERVED MADE ME
FEEL.
I felt so bad and uncomfortable seeing the
treatment the detainees are subjected to. I thought the prison would be a
rehabilitation center for the detainees. The visit to the prison made me
realize the importance of freedom and how we humans attach little importance to
freedom. I am also happy to have interviewed these detainees and I’m happy
because they are now nearer to attainment of the long awaited Justice.
Apparently, the feeling
was bad initially but subsequently got better because the project would help
changes in the system and attainment of justice.
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