The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has partnered with the Bar Human Right Committee of England and Wales to conduct a training programme on legal rights and protection of Internally Displaced Persons in North East Nigeria.
At the opening ceremony of the three-day training in Abuja yesterday, NBA president, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), said the objective of the training was to equip members of the association with necessary skills in providing pro-bono services for the nearly two million IDPs in the North East.
He said insurgency has led to the near collapse of the justice system in the region, even as human rights violation was not limited to the North East, adding that many states in the middle belt and south are also affected.
The Chairperson of the Bar Human Right Committee of England and Wales, Kirsty Brimelow (QC), in her goodwill message, said what informed the training was among other things the need to use the law to right the wrongs against the most vulnerable in the North East.
“We need to stop what the insurgency has done to the most vulnerable in the North East,” she added.
Giving an overview of the activities of NBA Taskforce on the North East, the taskforce chairman, Professor Muhammad Tabiu (SAN), said justice institution and practitioners were particularly targeted by insurgents with many legal practitioners losing their lives.
He said it was in view of that that a register was opened for lawyers affected by the conflict and that talks were in progress with the NBA to have trust funds for the victims.
The NBA later signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Bar Human Right Committee of England and Wales.
