In some parts of the world, police detain individuals awaiting trials for an unspecified amount of time in prison without consideration of bail under a “holding charge.” This is the reality that Nigerian lawyer Henry Nwaka Dunkwu faces on a daily basis.

Henry worked with Bureau of African Labour, Human and Democratic Rights, where he provided legal aid services and conducted workshops on human rights and good governance. He now works primarily with victims of human rights abuses, including inmates in the Nigerian prison system.

As a lawyer, he is well aware of the overcrowded prisons in his country. Henry sites that some prisons in Nigeria has an average of 250% capacity, where many inmates are still awaiting trial. He points to Ikoyi prison in Lagos State where 1,917 of 2,061 inmates are awaiting trial primarily because of the holding charge. For his JusticeMakers competition project proposal, Henry wants to challenge the constitutionality of the holding charge by litigating two key cases. You can read the project in detail by clicking here.