At St. Ivo Foundation Inc., our programs are designed to address critical social and economic challenges, focusing on empowering vulnerable populations and promoting justice and dignity. Guided by our mission and values, we implement impactful initiatives that bring hope and transformation to individuals and communities.
Our key programs include:
- LEGAL REPRESENTATION OF INMATES
- ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
- RESIDENTIAL CARE FOR CHILDREN OF PRISON INMATES.
LEGAL AID OF INMATES AND INDIGNANT PERSONS
Awaiting Trial Persons account for almost 72% of the total prison population in many sub-Saharan nations and are considered to be the major cause of Prison over population. Sadly, many of these persons are victims of social injustice in the society. A good example are those who were arrested without any just cause and being unable to sort their way out of the police stations are thrown into jail with no one to come to their aid. Given the inefficient nature of current state of the criminal justice system, some of them do not even know the reason for their incarceration and yet on the average, an indigent detainee will stay for more than five years before his or her case is visited.
In countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, members of the Police Force have been accused countless times of involvement in disappearance of suspects’ documentation and the demand for bribe for its reappearance, the use of torture to extract ‘confessions’, false charges, among several other practices that undermine the fundamental rights of individuals. In most cases the people who fall prey to these practices are those with little or no economic means to bribe the officers involved or cannot afford legal representation.
The Legal aid program will work to ensure that such prisoners are brought to court through representation and counselling to very poor and vulnerable indigent remand inmates that cannot afford the cost for themselves. Under this program, priority will be given to remand inmates who have been awaiting trial for a very long time and those who are victims of human rights violations.
RESIDENTIAL CARE FOR CHILDREN OF PRISON INMATES
Parental incarceration has far-reaching implications for the parents, the children, and the community. For the incarcerated parent, the child’s security and welfare is a source of constant anxiety and guilt because of the life he or she believes his or her actions have deprived the child. For the community, since children are very impressionable and can be easily influenced by prevailing negative influences in prison particularly from hardened and unrepentant convicts, this creates a pattern of uneducated and unemployable adults susceptible to criminal behaviour.
Children of incarcerated parents are not a well identified population. The general public has little or no information about their challenges. For the children, being incarcerated with the parents exposes them to the difficult and unhealthy circumstance within the prison. Every child has the right to wholesome development that is why the Ivo Foundation will be facilitating the effective implementation of the Child Rights Act within the Prisons in Sub-Saharan Africa.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
With the current wave of violence, insecurity and crime in within the region, the most vulnerable communities are those with a high number of individuals and families with little or no means of livelihood. It is of utmost importance for the Ivo Foundation to focus on empowering individuals especially those from ‘at risk’ communities with scholarships at the various stages of school including elementary, middle, high school and college/university. Ivo Foundation will pay particular attention to indigents who are in school already but are faced with the risk of dropping out of school because their sponsors are unable to continue with their sponsorship. This often may include a one-off assistance or a couple of financial boosts/assistance to stave-off the incidence of having to drop out of school. Others include assistance with acquisition of skills as well as the means to start up self-sustaining businesses. Through the Economic empowerment program, Ivo Foundation will provide skill training and small business start-up, provision of food for widows and families going through the throes of hunger and starvation whether as a result of natural disaster like flooding, terrorism or the like and families who are starving because either or both parents are deceased with virtually no visible means of livelihood. In this later category, special attention will be paid to indigent widows with young children.
St Ivo Foundation Inc, as part of its economic empowerment and poverty alleviation programme, is also committed to supporting indigent faith-based communities who demonstrate sufficient commitment towards establishing places of worship and other faith-based community projects provided such communities do not prescribe levies or taxes for such project but only execute such through free-will contributions. This is to ensure that the less privileged and indigent members are not compulsorily burdened in the execution of common community projects.
success stories
- A Few Examples -
Since inception Ivo foundation have successfully ensured the release of several inmates, they interviewed during their annual prison visit. A few examples of such numerous success stories are:
CHIBUEZE AGU has been in Onitsha Prisons since May 2010 on the allegation that he was involved in the kidnapping of his master. He became a suspect just because he did not take to his heels when the kidnappers came for his master and that the kidnappers did not harm him. He was charged with another defendant who was long ago granted bail by the Chief Judge during a jail delivery exercise. His trial could not commence as he had no counsel and also his co-defendant who was on bail was not available for the trial. By the time he approached us at the prison several years after during a prison visit, his case was already abandoned and he was no longer being produced in the court for trial. It was a tedious task tracing the court in which his case was pending as it used to be at Awka in special court for kidnapping cases which was later discontinued. We appeared severally for him but still trial could not commence for the reasons that the co-defendant was not attending and that more seriously the State Counsel kept reporting that the original case file was not available to them. However, having fought diligently for him, we succeeded in convincing the Judge to strike out the matter. He was eventually released after spending many long years in prison custody.
NWITE SUNDAY approached us at Onitsha Prison. He is a family man and a commercial driver. He was robbed of the Bus he was driving. He reported to the Police as well as to the owner of the bus. He was eventually charged at the Magistrate Court at Ogidi for the offence of armed robbery and was remanded at Onitsha Prisons. We filed an application to enforce his fundamental rights at the High Court on the grounds that his pre-trial detention had far exceeded the maximum time allowed by the Administration of Criminal Justice law of Anambra State and also that the procedure prescribed by the law was not complied with in his remand. On account of the JUSUN strike the application lingered. The application for bail and subsequently to strike out the matter was granted. He was released
OLAOLU OKEOWO was falsely arraigned on three-count charges of conspiracy, assault and stealing of a police officer mobile phone. He had gone for prayers, that is, night vigil and was on his way back in the early hours of the morning when he was arrested because he did not ‘play ball’ at the police instance and thus was declared a ‘stubborn’ young man. Our team met up with him at the Ikoyi prison and decided to give him free legal aid. On the next adjourned date, counsel on behalf of the Foundation appeared for him and found out that he pleaded guilty to the offence and subsequently amended his plea to not guilty. The matter went on to trial with the examination and cross examination of witnesses. Subsequently, it was adjourned for final written address which was adopted. The court acquitted and discharged the Defendant on all three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and assault on the 18th of August 2017.
ADEMOLA BALOGUN: Our team met up with Ademola during our prison visitation. Ademola works for the NURTW and was falsely accused of stealing a phone and cash belonging to one Alhaja. He was charged for Stealing in Tinubu Magistrate Court. Counsel from Ivo Foundation represented him on the next adjourned date and asked that the Matter be struck out because of the absence of the complainant and witnesses. The court decided to grant one more adjournment. On the next adjourned date, the case against Ademola was struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.
MURITALA OLA is a vulcanizer near an event centre. On that Fateful day, he was wrongfully arrested and falsely accused of breaking the glass of the complainant’s car and stealing a laptop. He was arraigned on that ground. Bail was granted; however, he was unable to meet up with bail requirements. We appeared for him and asked the court for strike out. Case was struck.