funding. This has led to the training of more than ninety administrative officers of the COUNCIL as Paralegal officers. The training touched on criminal aspects of the duties of a paralegal such as visiting detainees in prisons, linking detained client with a lawyer in the council who specializes in the offence for which the detainee is accused of. There is also the training of about forty seven lawyers of the council on the new Administration of Criminal Justice Act. The training is to make the lawyers abreast with the provisions of the Act and its implementation. b. c. d. e. In order to make staff of the council IT compliant the UNODC is training ninety members of staff including lawyers, administrative /personnel, accountants and secretaries to be more efficient in their work The Police Duty Solicitors Scheme (PDSS) continues to be part of the Council’s Pre-Trial Detention Project (PTD) which has recorded immense successes in reducing pre-trial detention times, in conjunction with the Nigerian Police Force and Open Society Justice Initiative to fast-track processes involved in the criminal justice system as an intervention to the burgeoning prison congestion. The project which was piloted in six (6) states of Imo, Kaduna, Ondo, Sokoto, Plateau and Rivers State has now been extended to Kebbi, Edo State and Nasarawa states. One Stop Claim Shop for Motor Accident Victims (OSCAR) has continued to be a veritable initiative in delivering compensation services to motor accident victims. The scheme is now extended to Kogi, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Niger States following a successful pilot scheme in Abuja. In the period between January 2011 and May 2013 the scheme completed the claims of 129 persons involving a total claim of N37,796,470.00 (Thirty Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety Six Thousand, Four Hundred and Seventy Naira) only. The initiative continues to discourage invalid motor vehicle insurance by verifying the validity of motor insurance policies. In the period between 2011 and 2015, in order that the Legal Aid Council’s free services reach more people at the grassroots level and make access to justice available to many more indigent persons, the Council commissioned more Legal Aid Centres in the following Local Governments – Owo (Ondo State), Auchi (Edo State), Karu (Nassarawa State), Shendam (Plateau State), Bwari (FCT), Ungogo (Kano State), Badagry (Lagos State), Warri (Delta State), Ogoja (Cross River State), Eket (AkwaIbom State), Katsina-Ala (Benue State), Ogbia (Bayelsa State), Sagbama (Bayelsa State) Otuocha (Anambra State), Ningi (Bauchi State), Abomena (Rivers State), Bida (Niger State), Suleja (Niger State) and Gwagwalada (Federal Capital Territory) as part of the drive to establish legal laid offices in all 774 local government areas of the Federation, bringing the total up to thirteen (24) presently. The establishment of these legal aid centres has enabled Nigerian citizens residing in the rural areas to promptly access justice. The Legal Aid Council has commenced the drive to collate its panels of registered lawyers into a directory of those who have applied to provide pro bono services to the over 100 million Nigerians who cannot afford the services of paid lawyers. The Council is positioned to coordinate and to monitor these activities and provide general information on pro bono lawyers, Legal aid providers and practitioners nationwide. This directory would also assist national and international donor agencies to determine who is providing legal aid services and consider collaboration and sponsorship. The pro bono panel of lawyers is constantly being updated as more lawyers are applying to be included. 28