5th March, 2012
The Office of the Public Defender, OPD has recovered N300 million for its clients over wrongful dismissal and compensation since inception in 2000.
This information was contained in the OPD programme booklet issued during the commissioning of its new office complex by Governor Babatunde Fashola in Surulere, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The office said in 2011 alone, it collected N14 million on behalf of its clients who had their appointment unjustly terminated.
It added that through its visits to prison, it secured the release of 646 persons unlawfully detained by various courts and police stations all over the state.
The OPD said it currently had 1,243 cases in court, adding that it is also handling 569 criminal cases and 249 civil cases, while the office claimed it had handled 34, 000 cases since inception.
Speaking at the commissioning of the OPD’s new complex, Governor Fashola said the aim of the OPD is to provide free legal advice and representation to indigent and otherwise defenceless members of the society, even where the remedies they sought are against government or its agencies.
The governor said it was also important to note that the OPD contributed to the entrenchment of law and order in other vital respects.