Juwifa Offers Free Human Rights Defence To All: Sets To Launch Its Website

A Human Rights NGO, Justice Without Fee Advocacy, (JUWIFA), offering free legal services to victims of human rights abuses in Nigeria has started the 10 days countdown to the launch of its website.

Explaining the drive behind the establishment of the NGO, the Spokesman of the Organisation, Barrister Ebuka Chima, has this to say;

“From the East to the West, from the North to the South, Nigerians of all shades, background, religion and sex, experience all manner of injustice, oppression and deprivation of their legitimate rights. These could be traceable to the omissions and commissions of government (at different levels) through many of its agencies, unjust oppression of the less-privileged by the high and mighty, unfair labour practices against disadvantaged and defenceless employees (both in private and public sector), sexual harassment in work places, child labour/abuse, police brutality, traditional practices against women, violence against women, and the list is just endless.”

He further painted the picture of Human Rights abuse recorded in the country and proffered reasons why such have persisted over the years;

“All this anomalies claim millions of victims almost daily in Nigeria and yet not up to 30% of these victims get to do anything about their sorry state. Not necessarily because these millions of victims are happy with their inhuman condition but largely because seeking justice, through the inevitable services of lawyers, is way beyond their reach. The financial implications of engaging the services of an average legal practitioner are what most Nigerians cannot afford. And the reasons are not farfetched. Informed statistics have it that over 70% of Nigerians live below poverty level and daily survival is a big struggle. In the face of such receding economy, distributing the scarcely available resources to meet daily needs becomes a herculean task. Given this unpleasant state of affairs, enjoyment/enforcement of rights conferred by law assumes the back seat. This singular factor fuels impunity in the system and emboldens the high and mighty to ride roughshod on the rights of the less-privileged with impunity. This resultantly widens the chasm of social injustice and disaffection.”

The Spokesman of the Organisation glowingly of the ways the NGO wishes to intervene in order to reverse the ugly trend;

“Not minding this gloomy picture, our mission here is to demonstrably convince you that you can fully enjoy and enforce your legal rights at all times, no matter your locality in Nigeria, notwithstanding your financial standing. We are here to place justice at your doorstep at absolutely no cost to you. We believe it is your right to enjoy the full protection of the law and enjoyment of your entire human rights well entrenched in the statute books.”

He announced that the website of the NGO would be accessible to the public starting from 12pm of 15th October, 2016 being Saturday. According him, the website, which is user-friendly and interactive has dedicated TOLL FREE lines, twitter, instagram, facebook accounts and email addresses to enable users from all over the world report human rights violations in Nigeria without any hindrance.