HERO

OF THE MONTH
JUNE

IBOR
JAMES
edited by NANA-OGBUTA MIRACLE

© 2020 LSWK WORLD. All Rights Reserved.


LSWK
COPUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Eduozor Henrie
COPUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Elizabeth Khara Gabriel, Esq.
LSWK HERO OF THE MONTH
CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER
Eduozor Henrie
ARTS & DESIGN DIRECTOR
Eduozor Henrie
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Miracle Nana-Ogbuta
LEGAL
Stillwaters Chambers
DISCLAIMER
The photographs of Ibor James used
in this publication were sourced online.
We do not claim ownership of them.
THE CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
NANA-OGBUTA MIRACLE
Miracle Nana-Ogbuta also known
as MNO, is a inal year student at the
Faculty of Law, Delta State
University, Oleh Campus. She is an
indigene of Delta State. She had her
primary school education at Stafford
High International School (then
known as Central Summit School)
and Seat of Wisdom Model
School(SOWMS), Ekpan. Her
Secondary school education was at
SOWMS and Edulyn College, Ekpan.
She gained admission into the Law
degree program in 2015.
Not being one who has interest in politics, she was appointed the
Chairman of LAWSAN Moot and Mock Committee in 2019.
She started writing for LSWK in 2018 as a Contributing Editor of its
monthly article called Hero of the Month. An article which she feels
every law student and lawyer should read as it portrays the lives of
those in the legal profession who have stood for and are still standing
for what is right, who have upheld the tenets of the legal profession
and have dedicated their lives to the service of humanity. According to
her, she enjoys writing for LSWK as it has tremendously helped her
improve on her writing skills. She is someone who feels she does not
live for herself alone but also for others as such, whenever she writes
for LSWK, the stories inspires her to be responsible for her actions as
others will be affected by it. She is also inspired not to give up
whenever she stands for something that she knows is right. No matter
the obstacles, just like the heros she writes about, justice will surely
prevail.
Her role models are women who, despite all odds, are at the top of
their game. She has great respect for Christiane Amanpour, a British-
Iranian journalist and television host.
Her goal in life is to inspire others and enjoy the simple things of life
while doing so.
2 | LSWK JUNE 2020
 HERO
OF THE MONTH
NANA-OGBUTA MIRACLE

IBOR JAMES
safe house for children accused of witchcraft.

Due to our customs and traditions and other religious

beliefs, there have been an incessant increase in
witchcraft accusations and an alarming number of
children have been on the receiving end. A report in
2008 estimated that about 15, 000 children in Cross
River and Akwa Ibom State (the epicentre of these
accusations in Nigeria) had been accused. These
children are usually blamed by relatives for any
sickness, death, shortcomings and generally, any
misfortunes experienced by them. As a result, they are
thrown out by these relatives to live in the unknown
and fend for themselves. According to a 2018 Al Jazeera
publication by Marc Ellison, most of these children now
live at the Lemna dumpsite on the outskirts of Calabar
making money through recycling of cans and bottles for
food, medicine and clothing. Going to school is not an
option for them and some have taken to smoking
cannabis and other vices.
Nigerian lawyer and child rights activist, James
Ibor, hails from Cross Rivers State. He obtained his
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of Calabar
and attended the Nigerian Law School, Abuja after
which he was called to the Nigerian Bar by the Body of
Benchers. He is the Executive Secretary of the Basic
Rights Counsel Initiative; a Non Governmental
Organisation he founded and registered in 2011. He is
currently working on the Niger Delta Child Rights
Watch (NDCRW) Project funded by Safe Child Africa
and supported by the Bar Human Rights Committee of
England and Wales.

Through BRCI, James Ibor works towards protecting

and promoting the rights of children and women by
providing them pro bono services. A child in any society
is usually one who cannot stand up for himself/herself.
Consequently, their well-being is left to the whims and
caprices of adults who in most cases have questionable
values or no values at all as evidenced in the the child
abuse cases reported daily. Thus, bringing an end to a
wild range of child abuse such as child traf icking,
sexual abuse, child prostitution, neglect and witchcraft
branding are part of the objectives of BRCI. They run a

3 | LSWK JUNE 2020

 HERO
OF THE MONTH
NANA-OGBUTA MIRACLE

IBOR JAMES
on the issue by government, United Nation agencies
and international development agencies and is
recognized as a leading legal expert on the issue in
Africa. He is a man who ventured into an area of
activism few dare to be involved in due to minimal
support base. Despite being faced by obstacles such as
lack of political will, lack of resources and the belief of
the people, he continues to speak for the marginalised
part of society because of his passion to ensure that
every Nigerian child is protected from abuse. What
more could we ask for in a hero?

Witchcraft stigmatization leads to a whole range of

child abuse and is of great concern to James Ibor. Thus,
the safe house provided by BRCI is a home to a number
of children including three siblings who after their
parents death had stayed with their grandmother and
were later accused of witchcraft, beaten and chased out
of the house. In September 2016, following a tip-off,
two children were rescued from a child traf icker by
James and were reunited with their mother.

Ironically, although both the Criminal Code and Child

Rights Act 2003 banished degrading treatment
including the branding of persons as witches, our
courts are yet to successfully prosecute a single
perpetrator. For example, in 2018, a man who accused
his three year old for being a witch and tortured her
with ire was released by a court despite confessing to
the crime. It is this that James and his team of lawyers
at BRCI try to address by providing safe houses for child
victims of abuse and witchcraft accusations. Although
the journey so far has not been smooth for Ibor's
organization due to lack of resources, their work so far
HERO
OF THE MONTH
is commendable.

James Ibor's ight against child abuse and witch

branding in particular, has led to him being consulted

4 | LSWK JUNE 2020

 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
NANA-OGBUTA M.

© 2020 LSWK WORLD. All Rights Reserved.