A total of nine law professors and three major lawyers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC are among 62 lawyers conferred with the prestigious rank of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs).
They were honoured with the rank by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) under the chairmanship of the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
A statement released on Thursday evening by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Hajo Sarki Bello, indicated that the LPPC conferred the rank on the lawyers at its 154th plenary session held on 29th September, 2022.
The law professors are Kathleen Ebelechukwu Okafor, Muhammed Taofeeq Abdulrasaq, Amokaye Oludayo Gabriel, Ismail Adeniyi Olatunbosun, Abdullahi Sheu Zuru, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Theodore Bala Maiyaki, Olaide Abass Gbadamosi and Chimezie Kingsley Okorie.
Prof Joy Ngozi Ezeilo (OON), is the 2019 national human rights award winner, the founding Director of Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), Tamar SARC and Girls Will. A former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, she is a global expert on human rights law and has practiced in this field for about three decades.
She currently serves as a Member, United Nations Civil Society Advisory Board on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and also as the Chairperson, Sexual Assault Referral Network, Nigeria. She is the convener of the South East Human Rights Network and also the Dean Emeritus, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria.
In 2021, she received an award of “Woman of the Time” from The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine.
The Women’s Aid Collective under her leadership provides free legal aid, counseling, safe house and other support services for victims of abuse and collaborated with the Enugu State Government under the TAMAR-SARC initiative funded by the then Justice for All (J4A) DFID, UK to provide comprehensive services to victims of sexual violence.