Royal Ambassadors Family Enlightenment Foundation, (RAFEF), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has taken steps to assist some inmates of the Afokang Correctional Centre in Calabar with legal aid.
This was disclosed by Mr Jonathan Okwudiri, Chairman, Board of Trustees of RAFEF on Monday in Calabar during the official inauguration Ceremony of Cross River Executive Working Committee of the foundation.
Okwudiri who doubles as the Director General of the foundation said apart from the programmes to empower women and youths, they would be embarking on a project in Cross River to assist inmates in the state’s correctional centre with legal aid.
According to him, “In Afikpo, we visited the Correctional Centre and got inmates who didn’t have representation and those who didn’t have money to pay for their bail after they were granted bail by the court.
“The legal team of this foundation went to work ensuring that applications were made to the court to see how we could assist about 12 of them with legal representation and bail payment.
“We also did the same thing in Amawbia Correctional Centre in Awka where we equally picked 13 inmates to help secure their freedom; in Cross River, we will be doing the same in Afokang Correctional Centre,” he said.
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He said while ensuring that they empower over 1,000 women and youths in each of the 18 Local Government Areas of Cross River, they have taught their members never to protest or fight against the government adding that it resolved nothing.
He said as a group, they had a system of getting positive results through negotiations, dialogue and consultations whenever there was conflict.
He appealed to the members of the foundation in Cross River to uphold the watchwords of integrity, truth, trust, transparency and accountability, noting that with these virtues, they would excel.
On his part, Dr Moses Agboreyo, Cross River Coordinator of the foundation said he would work to mobilise members of the foundation to get positive results and meet up with their aims and objectives of empowering people.
Agboreyo who is also the South-South Zonal Director said the major challenge they faced was funding and mobilisation due to the vast and difficult terrain of Cross River but added that they were working to surmount these challenges and touch lives.