OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER.
Since its establishment in 2000, the Office of the Public Defender OPD a government initiative to provide access to Justice for the indigent and the disadvantaged residents of Lagos State as made positive impact on the lives of Lagosians.
The Director of the Office, Omotola Rotimi, speaks on the exploits of and the challenges facing the Office.
You just celebrated 10 years of your establishment. How do you feel about it?
The OPD has grown tremendously. When it was established 10 years ago, it was under the Directorate of Citizens’ rights, but OPD has since then expanded, we now have four units. Initially OPD started with 10 members of staff comprising both counsel and support staff. Now we have about 79 members of staff comprising counsel and support staff. When you look at the number of cases in the past ten years, you would also see we have grown.
In the first year, it was very few, but since then we have handled over 15,000 petitions, most of which came in the last three years. More people are now aware of the OPD. As you came in today, even though today is the first day of work this year, you could see how many people have come and are being ttended to. Our anniversary really is a time to take stock of our achievements. It is like a student being examined and was about to know his scores-to know whether he passed or not. The reactions we got from the public, the governor and other stakeholders really made us happy that we have actually achieved and that we have got a pass mark, though we believe we can do better.
Until recently, people feel sceptical about government lawyers fighting for their cases. How did you allay their fears?.
First of all, I will say because we have the support of the governor, the support of the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice who is an energetic man and the support of the Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro, we are encouraged to do more and more and not to rest on our oars. We have a five-year strategic plan, we have a focus; we have what we have to do every three months. For instance we embark on awareness campaign every two months; we go to the hinterland; to all the local government areas to create awareness in people. We have been able to move closer to the grassroots. Again, in all the High Courts of criminal jurisdiction in Lagos State, we do have counsel just like in the Directorate of Public Prosecution. Even in the Magistrates’ courts and family courts we have resident lawyers as well.
Though this is tedious, we make sure we do, so that all the matters that need legal representations are taken up immediately. We also have working relationship with the prisons, so that they send us referrals, we also have working relationship with some NGOs , like International Federation of Women Lawyers, United Nations’ Children Emergency Fund, Media.com and Project Alert and even some Christian NGOs like the Catholic Church to mention a few. All these organisations send us referrals through which we are able to reach out to people. Also we have a working relationship with the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty alleviation. Also Women Right Advancement Protection Alternative (WRAPA) does refer cases to us as well.
At times when we have cases which has elements of welfare issue in them, we also refer cases to them, especially in custodial matters. Also in the rape cases after we have reported the matter to the police on behalf of the victims, we would still forward the case to the Ministry of women Affairs or Ministry of Youth and Sports as the case may be (depending on the age of the victims) to ensure that the person is given proper rehabilitation. So by those various networks we are able to reach out to people and like I said we also have awareness campaign on television and radio, like interview and radio jingles.
You have handled so many cases over the years involving children or youths. How do you feel when you impact positively in the lives of these weak people?
I believe that being in this office is not by accident. I believe God has put every officer in OPD here to carry out a particular assignment. I always tell my colleagues to do their work well, you never can tell when you are going to entertain an angel. Our motto here is that "Whoever comes here with tears will go out with joy". Our mission is to put smiles on peoples’ face. I have to be very passionate about my job, I am very passionate about children, I am passionate about women and I am passionate about men. I am passionate about human beings generally, irrespective of your gender.
So far as your rights are being infringed, I would be passionate about it. There is always that passion there, because without that kind of passion, you cannot work here either as a counsel or even as a support staff.
Can you tell us the extent of the jurisdiction of the OPD?
On the issue of jurisdiction, first of all, let me talk of territorial jurisdiction. We have to work within the confines of Lagos State, we cannot go outside, OPD Lagos is meant for the people living in Lagos State, though there are cases that are borderline, we have people living in the border areas between Lagos and Ogun like Akute etc and they would rather want to come to OPD Lagos than OPD Ogun for two reasons. One, it is easier for them to transport themselves to Lagos rather than transport themselves all the way to Abeokuta. Two, they feel like they work in Lagos- a part of their lives is in Lagos, it is like they have one foot in Lagos and one foot in Ogun State.
Now can you turn people like that down? The answer is no! But then ideally our jurisdiction lies within the confines of Lagos State territory. Secondly on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction, we handle all criminal matters such as rape, murder, armed robbery, grievous assault etc. People must be represented in court, it is one of the duties of the state to ensure that its citizens have proper legal representation in court in deserving cases, irrespective of whether the person is a suspect or not. He is still entitled under the law to be legally represented. So we handled all criminal matters. We also handled virtually all civil matters like child abuse, family matters, inheritance, wrongful dismissals, termination of employment, breach of contract, we handled virtually everything. The only matter we shy away from are matters that relate to land and landlord and tenancy issues.
Since your tenure started what are the major challenges facing the OPD?
Ah! there are many challenges. First of all there is this challenge of acceptability. Some people still has problem trusting OPD. They feel as lawyers, we will always collect money. And although we offer free legal services here, some people are still sceptical about it. Also there is this feeling that ‘Oh, it is a government establishment, how can government prosecute and government defend’ so people have qualms about it.However when people started to see the results, they tend to change their mind. So this aspect is being gradually overcome butwe still need to work on it. We still need to educate people. There is also this attitude when it comes to domestic violence and sexual abuse. When reports are made and we put the pressure on the police we want to proffer charges against Mr. XYZ (Because we don’t have prosecutorial power) to take the cases to court, we would have done everything to ensure that the police take the case to court, but all of a sudden you would hear that the victim’s parents had gone to settle with the alleged offender or with the police. They now come to say we are no longer interested in the case, that now scuttles what you are doing to assist the victims. But we do sensitise and educate them that because you have allowed this man to go free, he is going to do it to somebody else.
So you have to learn to say I want to prosecute this matter. There are several cases of young ladies that had been sexually abused, the matter would have been in court, but the moment they started waving the naira notes at them, they would want to compromise and say ‘I would rather take N50, 000, I need money’, and then they would go. We have instances like that, maybe it is because of the poverty level.
How do you view the incidence of rape as crime in Lagos State going by your experience in this office?
‘Ah ah, the incidence of rape has become epidemic. It has actually escalated. We need to sensitise the people more, especially the girl child on how she can use self defence to protect herself because, you see, even a kick can save a life, a blow of a whistle can save a life. So these are the kinds of things we are going to look into this year. We have to ensure that more girls on the street of Lagos are protected.
Also we know that WRAPA is doing a lot, Lagos State government is doing a lot against street trading, especially by young children, because that is where the danger lies most of the time. That is where they become prey to all these danfo drivers and touts. If we can look into this, it would reduce the incidence of sexual abuse that is going on. We have also discovered that rape is rampant in all these face-me-I-face-you apartment, especially in high density areas. In such areas you would often find a woman leaving her girl child in care of another neighbour who would turn out to be the defiler of that particular child. We have to sensitise the landlords in Lagos now on how to collaborate with government. It will be a war that would involve all Lagosians. All hands must be on deck to curb this menace because sexual abuses is on the high side. it has become epidemic, in this office we treat sexual abuses or related cases of nothing less than ten in a day, you can now imagine the other units too, so all added together, we are talking of about 20- 25 sexual abuse cases in a day. That is on the high side.
What are your plans for this year?
With God on our side and with the Lagos State Government on our side, with all the support we have had, we expect more support this year so that we can be more productive; put more smiles on the faces of Lagosians and of course we have our strategic five-year flagged off in 2008 and it lasts till 2013 which we intend to follow quarterly. It also involves awareness campaign, training of lawyers, public enlightenment, review of all our courtcases, employment of more counsel and so many things like that.
How does OPD help victims of rape andwhat could still be done systemically to fight the menace of rape in this society?
Some victims are brought here immediately they have been raped. The first thing we do is to report the matter to the police and then we quickly take the victim to the hospital so that she would be treated and also the evidence will be collected. Don’t forget that in order to prosecute rape cases successfully, you must have all kinds of evidence, like the semen, the DNA samples and physical evidence like the torn clothes and the torn pants. All these are duly collected. When we get to this stage we make sure we get the Ministry of Women Affairs or the Ministry of Youth and Sports involved depending on the age of the victim. They will then assist us in rehabilitating the victim. If it is a member of the family that abused the child, we would go to court to get a protective custody order for that child to be removed from that environment and put in a safe place and from there the child would be given proper medical care. The Ministry of Women Affairs now have Hostel for victims of domestic violence. Women who are victims of domestic violence are being rehabilitated in such facilities.
In other jurisdiction, rape cases are treated specially. Immediately a case of rape is reported, it takes priority over any other cases. Unlike what we have here the police would be saying come today come tomorrow during which the evidence that could be used in court would have been removed. Also there is always a special care unit for rape victims in the hospitals abroad where the victims are put in conducive environment. It is in this kind of conducive room that the girl would be interviewed by the Liaison Police Officer who is always available. She would be in relaxed position to relate what has happened and the medical officers would collect all the samples, like the hair, blood or semen sample that they can use to assist the victims in getting justice. We don’t have that kind of facilities in Nigeria now. If we can get the facility it would assist victims and would aid her to relate event without much trauma.
Going to police station in Nigeria to report rape cases is not easy. People might say, why did you too wore spaghetti strap, they would intimidate the victim. Again, going to the hospital here is another experience, before she collects card, waiting on queue, and then they would say you can’t see doctor today, come tomorrow,. It would be stressful for somebody who has already undergone a trauma. The girl would simply go home and take her bath and thus washed away all the evidence. If we can have this kind of facility I talked about in our hospitals and the health centres, any person that is sexually abused can easily go there and have everything there, the victim does not even have to go to the police station. The Policeman is already there and as the girl is talking the policeman is taking down her statement. Then they go and arrest the person.
So, rape cases should be given priority. This is a case which has led some women to commit suicide; it is a case where some children have become maimed for life.
Since its establishment in 2000, the Office of the Public Defender OPD a government initiative to provide access to Justice for the indigent and the disadvantaged residents of Lagos State as made positive impact on the lives of Lagosians.
The Director of the Office, Omotola Rotimi, speaks on the exploits of and the challenges facing the Office.
You just celebrated 10 years of your establishment. How do you feel about it?
The OPD has grown tremendously. When it was established 10 years ago, it was under the Directorate of Citizens’ rights, but OPD has since then expanded, we now have four units. Initially OPD started with 10 members of staff comprising both counsel and support staff. Now we have about 79 members of staff comprising counsel and support staff. When you look at the number of cases in the past ten years, you would also see we have grown.
In the first year, it was very few, but since then we have handled over 15,000 petitions, most of which came in the last three years. More people are now aware of the OPD. As you came in today, even though today is the first day of work this year, you could see how many people have come and are being ttended to. Our anniversary really is a time to take stock of our achievements. It is like a student being examined and was about to know his scores-to know whether he passed or not. The reactions we got from the public, the governor and other stakeholders really made us happy that we have actually achieved and that we have got a pass mark, though we believe we can do better.
Until recently, people feel sceptical about government lawyers fighting for their cases. How did you allay their fears?.
First of all, I will say because we have the support of the governor, the support of the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice who is an energetic man and the support of the Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro, we are encouraged to do more and more and not to rest on our oars. We have a five-year strategic plan, we have a focus; we have what we have to do every three months. For instance we embark on awareness campaign every two months; we go to the hinterland; to all the local government areas to create awareness in people. We have been able to move closer to the grassroots. Again, in all the High Courts of criminal jurisdiction in Lagos State, we do have counsel just like in the Directorate of Public Prosecution. Even in the Magistrates’ courts and family courts we have resident lawyers as well.
Though this is tedious, we make sure we do, so that all the matters that need legal representations are taken up immediately. We also have working relationship with the prisons, so that they send us referrals, we also have working relationship with some NGOs , like International Federation of Women Lawyers, United Nations’ Children Emergency Fund, Media.com and Project Alert and even some Christian NGOs like the Catholic Church to mention a few. All these organisations send us referrals through which we are able to reach out to people. Also we have a working relationship with the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty alleviation. Also Women Right Advancement Protection Alternative (WRAPA) does refer cases to us as well.
At times when we have cases which has elements of welfare issue in them, we also refer cases to them, especially in custodial matters. Also in the rape cases after we have reported the matter to the police on behalf of the victims, we would still forward the case to the Ministry of women Affairs or Ministry of Youth and Sports as the case may be (depending on the age of the victims) to ensure that the person is given proper rehabilitation. So by those various networks we are able to reach out to people and like I said we also have awareness campaign on television and radio, like interview and radio jingles.
You have handled so many cases over the years involving children or youths. How do you feel when you impact positively in the lives of these weak people?
I believe that being in this office is not by accident. I believe God has put every officer in OPD here to carry out a particular assignment. I always tell my colleagues to do their work well, you never can tell when you are going to entertain an angel. Our motto here is that "Whoever comes here with tears will go out with joy". Our mission is to put smiles on peoples’ face. I have to be very passionate about my job, I am very passionate about children, I am passionate about women and I am passionate about men. I am passionate about human beings generally, irrespective of your gender.
So far as your rights are being infringed, I would be passionate about it. There is always that passion there, because without that kind of passion, you cannot work here either as a counsel or even as a support staff.
Can you tell us the extent of the jurisdiction of the OPD?
On the issue of jurisdiction, first of all, let me talk of territorial jurisdiction. We have to work within the confines of Lagos State, we cannot go outside, OPD Lagos is meant for the people living in Lagos State, though there are cases that are borderline, we have people living in the border areas between Lagos and Ogun like Akute etc and they would rather want to come to OPD Lagos than OPD Ogun for two reasons. One, it is easier for them to transport themselves to Lagos rather than transport themselves all the way to Abeokuta. Two, they feel like they work in Lagos- a part of their lives is in Lagos, it is like they have one foot in Lagos and one foot in Ogun State.
Now can you turn people like that down? The answer is no! But then ideally our jurisdiction lies within the confines of Lagos State territory. Secondly on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction, we handle all criminal matters such as rape, murder, armed robbery, grievous assault etc. People must be represented in court, it is one of the duties of the state to ensure that its citizens have proper legal representation in court in deserving cases, irrespective of whether the person is a suspect or not. He is still entitled under the law to be legally represented. So we handled all criminal matters. We also handled virtually all civil matters like child abuse, family matters, inheritance, wrongful dismissals, termination of employment, breach of contract, we handled virtually everything. The only matter we shy away from are matters that relate to land and landlord and tenancy issues.
Since your tenure started what are the major challenges facing the OPD?
Ah! there are many challenges. First of all there is this challenge of acceptability. Some people still has problem trusting OPD. They feel as lawyers, we will always collect money. And although we offer free legal services here, some people are still sceptical about it. Also there is this feeling that ‘Oh, it is a government establishment, how can government prosecute and government defend’ so people have qualms about it.However when people started to see the results, they tend to change their mind. So this aspect is being gradually overcome butwe still need to work on it. We still need to educate people. There is also this attitude when it comes to domestic violence and sexual abuse. When reports are made and we put the pressure on the police we want to proffer charges against Mr. XYZ (Because we don’t have prosecutorial power) to take the cases to court, we would have done everything to ensure that the police take the case to court, but all of a sudden you would hear that the victim’s parents had gone to settle with the alleged offender or with the police. They now come to say we are no longer interested in the case, that now scuttles what you are doing to assist the victims. But we do sensitise and educate them that because you have allowed this man to go free, he is going to do it to somebody else.
So you have to learn to say I want to prosecute this matter. There are several cases of young ladies that had been sexually abused, the matter would have been in court, but the moment they started waving the naira notes at them, they would want to compromise and say ‘I would rather take N50, 000, I need money’, and then they would go. We have instances like that, maybe it is because of the poverty level.
How do you view the incidence of rape as crime in Lagos State going by your experience in this office?
‘Ah ah, the incidence of rape has become epidemic. It has actually escalated. We need to sensitise the people more, especially the girl child on how she can use self defence to protect herself because, you see, even a kick can save a life, a blow of a whistle can save a life. So these are the kinds of things we are going to look into this year. We have to ensure that more girls on the street of Lagos are protected.
Also we know that WRAPA is doing a lot, Lagos State government is doing a lot against street trading, especially by young children, because that is where the danger lies most of the time. That is where they become prey to all these danfo drivers and touts. If we can look into this, it would reduce the incidence of sexual abuse that is going on. We have also discovered that rape is rampant in all these face-me-I-face-you apartment, especially in high density areas. In such areas you would often find a woman leaving her girl child in care of another neighbour who would turn out to be the defiler of that particular child. We have to sensitise the landlords in Lagos now on how to collaborate with government. It will be a war that would involve all Lagosians. All hands must be on deck to curb this menace because sexual abuses is on the high side. it has become epidemic, in this office we treat sexual abuses or related cases of nothing less than ten in a day, you can now imagine the other units too, so all added together, we are talking of about 20- 25 sexual abuse cases in a day. That is on the high side.
What are your plans for this year?
With God on our side and with the Lagos State Government on our side, with all the support we have had, we expect more support this year so that we can be more productive; put more smiles on the faces of Lagosians and of course we have our strategic five-year flagged off in 2008 and it lasts till 2013 which we intend to follow quarterly. It also involves awareness campaign, training of lawyers, public enlightenment, review of all our courtcases, employment of more counsel and so many things like that.
How does OPD help victims of rape andwhat could still be done systemically to fight the menace of rape in this society?
Some victims are brought here immediately they have been raped. The first thing we do is to report the matter to the police and then we quickly take the victim to the hospital so that she would be treated and also the evidence will be collected. Don’t forget that in order to prosecute rape cases successfully, you must have all kinds of evidence, like the semen, the DNA samples and physical evidence like the torn clothes and the torn pants. All these are duly collected. When we get to this stage we make sure we get the Ministry of Women Affairs or the Ministry of Youth and Sports involved depending on the age of the victim. They will then assist us in rehabilitating the victim. If it is a member of the family that abused the child, we would go to court to get a protective custody order for that child to be removed from that environment and put in a safe place and from there the child would be given proper medical care. The Ministry of Women Affairs now have Hostel for victims of domestic violence. Women who are victims of domestic violence are being rehabilitated in such facilities.
In other jurisdiction, rape cases are treated specially. Immediately a case of rape is reported, it takes priority over any other cases. Unlike what we have here the police would be saying come today come tomorrow during which the evidence that could be used in court would have been removed. Also there is always a special care unit for rape victims in the hospitals abroad where the victims are put in conducive environment. It is in this kind of conducive room that the girl would be interviewed by the Liaison Police Officer who is always available. She would be in relaxed position to relate what has happened and the medical officers would collect all the samples, like the hair, blood or semen sample that they can use to assist the victims in getting justice. We don’t have that kind of facilities in Nigeria now. If we can get the facility it would assist victims and would aid her to relate event without much trauma.
Going to police station in Nigeria to report rape cases is not easy. People might say, why did you too wore spaghetti strap, they would intimidate the victim. Again, going to the hospital here is another experience, before she collects card, waiting on queue, and then they would say you can’t see doctor today, come tomorrow,. It would be stressful for somebody who has already undergone a trauma. The girl would simply go home and take her bath and thus washed away all the evidence. If we can have this kind of facility I talked about in our hospitals and the health centres, any person that is sexually abused can easily go there and have everything there, the victim does not even have to go to the police station. The Policeman is already there and as the girl is talking the policeman is taking down her statement. Then they go and arrest the person.
So, rape cases should be given priority. This is a case which has led some women to commit suicide; it is a case where some children have become maimed for life.
Could u post the contact details of the OPD please. Thank you!
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