Restorative Justice for Africa (REJA Initiative) was first conceived in November 2017 when our founder, Osariemen Omoruyi, began visiting prisons to defend unjustly incarcerated people. Her passion as a human rights lawyer came early in life when her uncle was unjustly incarcerated on a trumped-up charge of armed robbery that carries the death penalty. 

Despite his innocence, he was abandoned in an overcrowded prison without trial because he could not afford legal representation until a lawyer took up his case and he was discharged/acquitted. Due to the unhygienic living conditions in prison, he developed cellulitis and after his acquittal, he received no compensation for his unjust incarceration. That experience inspired Osariemen and set her on this path to address the injustice in our criminal justice system. After her call to the Nigerian Bar, she started REJA to promote accountability through restorative justice and champion criminal justice reforms that ensures no one is denied access to legal representation due to indigence.

As a youth-led organization closing the justice and inequality gap for undeserved people, our work dismantles systems that perpetuate unjust incarcerations, causes prison congestion and fosters re-offending in Nigeria and across Africa.