Founder of CLEEN Foundation, and a leader of Nigeria’s Civil Society (NCS), Mr Innocent Chukwuma, has reportedly passed away at the age of 55.
The demise of Chukwuma, who was also a former director of Ford Foundation, was disclosed by Mr Edetaen Ojo, the executive director of the Media Rights Agenda and a friend of Chukwuma.
According to him, Chukwuma, died on Saturday evening, in Lagos State, after being diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the blood.
In his words, “With profound shock & sadness, I regret to inform you that Innocent Chukwuma passed away a few hours ago, in the evening of April 3. May his soul rest in peace.”
Chukwuma gained public prominence with his activism in the student Union of the University of Nigeria, the the early 1980s. During his time at the University, he led several agitations campaign against the military government of that time.
Following his completion of degree at the department of religious students, University of Nigeria, Chukwuma joined the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), a coalition of young activists and Nigeria’s first human rights organisation led by Olisa Agbakoba.
However, Chukwuma left the organization to establish CLEEN, a foundation which is aimed at promoting public safety, security and accessible justice in West Africa.
The CLEEN foundation was also the first African nongovernmental organisation to receive the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Chukwuma also held a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom (UK).
He joined the Ford Foundation as a representative for West Africa in January 2013.
Chukwuma had also served as member of boards of various global initiatives and organisation against crime and violence, which includes, the Open Society Global Criminal Justice Fund(OGCJF), the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum(APCOF), the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime(ICPC), among others.
