A
deviation from the theoritical classroom approach to legal education
was undertaken by the Nigeria Police Academy Legal Clinic(POLAC legal
clinic).Upon the approval of the commandant of the Academy,the journey
commenced on March 17 and culminated on March 21,2018.
The
first port of call was the High Court of Kano State,a multi-door court
house.Clinicians were divided into small groups,and then attached to
each of the court houses to witness ongoing proceedings.In the end,there
was a re-union of all clinicians at the venue of briefing by the chief
judge of kano state.He was glad to have us in his court,and commended
the 'brains' behind the effort of making it possible for us to
experience "law in practice".
The
second journey led us to the Wudil prisons,a small 160 capacity prison
established in 1976.The actual inmates contain in the prison was 103(of
which only 37 were awaiting trial).Unlike some maximum security
prisons,the wudil prisons looked old and derelicted.Chief Superintendent
of prisons Tukur Mohammed after briefing us,led us to see the inmates
who were glad to see us.The health condition of the inmates was very
poor.Case files of 11 awaiting trial inmates were undertaken to be
pursued in court by us(of which included that of the only female inmate
of less than 18 years of age.)
Finally,we
put in appearance at the Ministry of Justice Kano state.Upon arrival,we
made a brief stop at the office of the Solicitor-General who received
us and gave us a general overview of the statutory duties of the
ministry.At the office of the Director of Public Prosecution which was
the next and final port of call in the ministry,we were received and
lectured by Mr.Lawan Suleiman,the Director of Public Prosecution.He
listed and explained the function of the various sub-departments within
the department of public prosecution,and stated that prominent amongst
his department's function is the receipt of investigation report by the
police and the determination whether there is a cause of action with
respect to such report.He further stated that he and his team put in
their best in going through voluminous reports to ensure that legal
advice is given within 5 days from the receipt of such report.
On
the same day,a brief visit to the Kano State Police Command
Headquarters was undertaken.In a briefing,the Deputy Commissioner of
Police,DCP Ebuka Friday,stated that the police is a key player in the
administration of criminal justice because it is saddled with the
responsibility of processing suspects and making sure they appear before
the court.
THE EXPERIENCE WAS ENLIGTHENING,AND PREPARES ME FOR TASKS AHEAD
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