ActionAid Nigeria, an NGO, has called for the unbundling and amendment of section 214 of the 1999 constitution to provide explicit legal framework and backing for Community Policing in Nigeria.
ActionAid made the call in a communique issued on Thursday at the end of a two-day training of Police Officers on Community Policing in Okene, Central Senatorial District of Kogi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by ActionAid in collaboration with its local rights partner, Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), and the Nigeria Police, Kogi command.
The communique jointly signed by Ms Ene Obi, ActionAid Country Director and Ms Halima Sadiq, acting Executive Director, PIBCID, also called for amendment of the Police Act. to provide for and define the goals of community policing.
It said that the training, supported and funded by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), was aimed at strengthening police architecture and systems in community policing.
This, according to the communique, is in consonant with the objectives of the System and Structural Strengthening Approach Against Radicalisation To Violent Extremism (SARVE II) Project of ActionAid.
The communique said that it had been observed that, “There is inadequate legal frame work to enhance and compel the implementation of the concept to ensure sustainability of the current drive toward achieving community policing in Nigeria.
“The strategic document on community policing lacks explicit legislative and legal framework to underpin its operations by virtue of the provisions of section 214 of the 1999 constitution as amended,” it said.
It, therefore, called for an amendment and unbundling of section 214 of the 1999 constitution as amended as well as the Nigeria Police Act to provide for a legal framework for implementation of the concept.
The communique said that there was need for continuous and sustained community sensitisation through stakeholders’ engagement, education and capacity building anchored on a structured mechanism for implementation.
It further held that there was urgent need to finalise the development and publication of terms of reference for the various Community Policing Committees (CPCs), being inaugurated across states in line with directives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The communique also emphasised the need for established mechanism for proper scrutiny and vetting of the character and personality of the CPC members to avoid inclusion of people with questionable characters.
It called on all state police commands to, as a matter of urgency, evolve a mechanism for constant capacity building, sensitisation and mentoring of CPC members being setup across states. (NAN)
