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Director-General IPCR, Dr. Bakut Bakut
The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has urged security stakeholders to brainstorm towards rebuilding the lost confidence and trust between the Nigerian Police Force and members of the public.
Dr Bakut Bakut, IPCR’s Director-General, gave the charge in Abuja on Tuesday, while addressing participants at a conference jointly organized by the institute and a non-governmental organization, Peace for Africa Initiative.
The theme of the one-day conference, which attracted participants from the academia, civil society organizations, IPCR, the police and other security agencies is, “Rebuilding Confidence and Trust between the Nigeria Police and the public.”
“This workshop therefore seeks to change the negative narrative by way of repositioning the Nigeria police to take up its statutory role by being responsive to public need and provide security as a public good to the Nigerian public.
“At this juncture it becomes important to ask this multi-stakeholders gathering some pertinent questions on how to restore public confidence in the Police because without such confidence, the police would be unable to carry out their statutory roles.
“How can citizens know about and demand respectful and effective policing? How can public confidence in the police be built in the face of distrust and loss of confidence? These questions should help in shaping and guiding our conversation as we brainstorm on the theme of this conference.
“While the experts here interrogate the issue with a view to addressing the gaps, we as an apex Institution of peace of the federation are optimistic that mainstreaming peacebuilding in policing and general operations of the Nigeria Police will go a long way in rethinking and rebuilding trust between the Police Institution and the Nigerian public,” he said.
Bakut noted that the theme, timing and significance of the event were apt, especially considering the fact that it fell within a period when Nigeria was witnessing a high level of security challenges in various parts of the country.
He also observed that the security challenges were orchestrated either as a counter-reaction by citizens to police non-adherence to Rules of engagement (ROFs) in their operations or as an organized violence against the police by non-state actors.
“It is in this regard that the IPCR as a government agency and think-tank on issues of peacebuilding and conflict management in Nigeria and Africa, considers it essential to collaborate with the Peace for African Initiative to convene this all important conference.
“As we may all be aware, the security forces across the globe are faced with new challenges of operations and policing the state following the evolving nature of security environment and the rise of Non-State Actors in our contemporary society today.
“The situation is not different in Nigeria, given that as the country’s population is exponentially increasing with attendant high crime rate, the policing resources, capacity and capability are increasing at a snail pace, thereby occasioning gaps in meeting up with the constitutional roles of the Nigeria police,” he said.
The Director-General stressed that in democratic societies such as Nigeria, the police is the front line institution of first resort, the first line of defence against crime and anarchy and the first sign of the strength of any state.
He said the police were saddled with such responsibilities as “the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged”.
According to the peace institute boss, a cursory assessment of the state of the Nigeria Police reveals that part of the challenges that have plagued the Police Force are not unconnected to challenges of operational accountability to the people, which has been the missing link between the police and the people they serve.
“These challenges as identified by some scholars include: lack of public confidence in the Police, gross violation of human rights, lack of adherence to rules of engagements, conflict of interest and corruption.
“Others are unethical and unprofessional conduct, faulty recruitment method, haphazard and inadequate training, understaffing, poor funding, politicization of the police force and lack of modern day policing equipment/technology among others.
“There is no gainsaying to note that these challenges are sufficient conditions to create enabling environment for the police personnel to violate the laws they are constitutionally empowered to defend. Several reports have been alleged, identifying the ills perpetrated by the Nigeria police to include extra-judicial killings, indiscriminate arrests, detention, harassment, extortion etc.
“These actions have at different times sparked up protest of low intensity level like the nationwide youth Endsars protests last year, which climaxed the protest of high intensity with deleterious consequences on major cities across the country,” he said.
Bakut added that the protests and post protest experiences, significantly affected the image of the Nigeria police and broke the bridges of trust that existed between the police institution and the Nigeria public.
Dr, Robert Nkata, President, Africa Peace Initiative, API, in his remarks, said API collaborated with IPCR to organize the event because they both shared the same philosophy and understanding of the importance of early warning signs in conflict resolution, adding that “a stitch in time saved nine.”
He noted that the relationship between the Nigeria police and the public got to its lowest level during the “Endsars” protests of 2020, which he said were hijacked by unidentified persons.
He stressed that while the police were saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the maintenance of law and order, they must do so within the ambits of the law and respect for the fundamental human rights of citizens.
“The police need the public while the public need the police and we are all important to each other. This conference is therefore not an opportunity for blame game but just an opportunity for the public and the police to chart a way forward for the betterment of our society and for peace to return,” Nkata said.
Also speaking, Mr Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, said that maximum cooperation and collaboration were needed between the Nigeria police and the public in order to build confidence and trust between the two sides.
Ojukwu added that said the Nigeria police lacked the basic infrastructure to investigate crime, stressing that, “hence, in doing their work they are not intelligence-driven and scientific.” (NAN)
