CADRELL ADVOCACY CENTRE

Cadrell Advocacy Centre is a non-profit organization in Nigeria which provides legal support for victims of various forms of violence including rape, child molestation, domestic violence, jungle justice among others. Unfortunately, cases of violence like the ones highlighted above have risen in Nigeria in recent years. Few places offer comprehensive support for the numerous victims who end up living with the trauma of their experiences coupled with the lack of justice that is often their plight. At Cardell Advocacy Centre, we have a team of dedicated and excellent lawyers who will work hand-in-hand with the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant authorities to ensure that victims receive the justice they deserve and perpetrators are punished accordingly. 

 

Our hope at Cadrell Advocacy Centre is to contribute to the drastic reduction of violent crimes in our communities. To achieve this, we have developed a strategy to work with the public from all states of the federation on such matters as incident reporting and information gathering. We do not take for granted the role members of a community can play in ridding their community of crimes and identifying the criminals amongst them. As part of our strategy, incentives will be provided to encourage community members and victims to come forward with information about violent crimes being committed against them or in their areas. Furthermore, in keeping with our community-centric principles, we encourage volunteers who would like to work with our committed team and people/organizations who would love to partner with us to toreach out to us during office hours via our helplines. Together, we can work towards eliminating violent crimes in our nation.

 

Cadrell Advocacy Centre also runs a Child Education Trust Fund (CETF) with the aim of educating the less privileged in the Nigerian society. We believe education is the key to prosperity and refuge in adversity and thus it is our cardinal mandate to use this platform to help as many children as possible finance their education thereby eradicating illiteracy in Nigeria.

 

OUR CORE AREAS

 To Provide:

- Legal aid for rape victims

- Legal support against domestic violence

- Child right support

- Legal support against child molestation

- Movement against jungle justice

- Education trust fund

 

 

LEGAL AID FOR RAPE VICTIMS

Rape has become a serious problem in our society as it has in the last ten years, assumed a very dangerous proportion. Something must urgently be done to fight this societal malaise. Out of every ten girls between the ages of 0 - 15 in our society, eight have been either raped or sexually abused before the age of eighteen.

 

Often the victims do not have access to justice because society represses their voices and sometimes these victims are threatened to remain silent while community leaders and elders assume jurisdiction illegally to hear rape cases. We have begun to engage society on these issues and raise awareness that rape is not a family affair but a criminal offense. We have started conversations with community leaders, explaining that it is a crime to aid a rapist escape justice. Our campaign is geared toward the length and breadth of Nigeria with the message that according to our criminal laws, the penalty for rape is life imprisonment and the penalty for attempted rape is 14-years imprisonment.

 

LEGAL SUPPORT AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence is an offense under the Violence Against Persons Prevention Act of 2015. This is a federal legislation enacted to address the root causes of violence in the Nigerian society and to prescribe penalties for noncompliance. It is an offense to assault anyone physically or psychologically, be it a spouse, child, or a relation. Both in domestic and industrial relations, all forms of violence are prohibited under our law.

 

Cadrell Advocacy Centre therefore believes that the Nigerian society must be informed adequately about this law. Our organization shall from time to time apply to the Attorney Generals of the various states in Nigeria for a fiat to prosecute offenders when necessary. We shall equally institute legal action against any person(s) or institution(s) that obstructs our operation in Nigeria.

CHILD RIGHT SUPPORT

Children are the future of every society. It is therefore important that every child obtains the best in life. Cadrell Advocacy Centre aims to uphold the rights of the Nigerian child as enshrined in the Child Right Act, the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of a Child, and the African Charter on Human and People’s Right.

 

We aim to combat child labour of any kind, including hawking on the streets, domestic or sexual labour, tribal skin-marking or tattooing of children, trafficking of persons, using of children to smuggle narcotic and psychotropic substances, child sexual molestation, child abduction, removal and transfer of a child to unknown custody, child marriage, employment of a child for the facilitation of criminal acts, begging of alms, and so on. As an organization, we will advocate for the adoption of the Child Right Act in all the states of the federation.

 

CHILD EDUCATION TRUST FUND

We believe that the best legacy a child can be given is education. When a child is allowed to develop his inner faculties, he finds new perspective from where his life can begin to turn around for excellence. Bearing this in mind, we set up the Cadrell Child Education Trust Fund (CCETF) to help children who are deprived of basic education to access it at no cost. This way, we can sustain our mission of rescuing them from violence. We aim to put underprivileged children in decent schools and cater for their needs till they can find their footings in the society.

 

There are over 14 million children out of school in Nigeria. Our mission is to reduce this number by half within the next (3) three years. We cannot do this alone, and as such, we have a platform in place by which members of the public can partner with us to make this a reality. It costs just N35,000 to sponsor a child through primary school. This amount will cover the cost of uniforms, bags, books, food, excursions, sports, etc. With your support, we can send as many children to school as possible so that they do not become easy tools in the hands of insurgents. We once again declare our commitment to reduce illiteracy through this trust fund, and we pledge to give account of our stewardship at regular intervals.