The Nigeria Police Force Complaint Response Unit (NPF-CRU), in partnership with the Eagle Crime Awareness and Prevention Initiative (ECAPI), will hold a mega sensitisation rally in Lagos on Friday, October 23, to educate residents on reporting police misconduct and seeking redress.

The rally, which will begin at theLagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja, will feature roadshows, market outreach, distribution of information materials and demonstrations of the CRU’s complaint-reporting platforms.

The campaign aligns with the reform agenda of the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, who was recently invested as Grand Patron of the CRU-ECAPI partnership. Established in 2015, the CRU receives and tracks complaints of alleged extortion, harassment, illegal bail demands and other human rights violations.

According to the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Edem, the unit is being strengthened to improve transparency, enhance case tracking and reduce resolution time to 21 days.

Despite recording 459 complaints in the first quarter of 2024 alone, the police acknowledge that many Nigerians remain unaware of the unit and its reporting channels, which include WhatsApp, telephone lines, social media and walk-in petitions.

The Lagos rally is intended to bridge that awareness gap. The partnership was formally launched at the Force Headquarters in Abuja about two weeks ago, when a 15-member ECAPI delegation led by its founder, Ambassador Eniola Samuel Adam, met with the IGP through the CRU leadership. ECAPI has since supported the campaign with branded clothing, banners, billboards, jingles, flyers and public address equipment.

Registered in 2016, ECAPI is a security-focused non-governmental organisation known as Crime Stoppers. It collaborates with law enforcement and public agencies, including the police, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), on intelligence gathering, community policing, anti-drug advocacy and traffic law awareness. Its motto is: “ECAPI, Blow Your Whistle; See Something, Report It.”

The Lagos rally will be the partnership’s first major public engagement in the state, following sensitisation tours in Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory. Speaking ahead of the event, the newly appointed CRU commander, SP Anietie Inniedo, said the unit was committed to investigating complaints and holding erring officers accountable.

“The era of shielding bad eggs is over. The CRU reports directly to the IGP through the Force PRO. Every complaint, whether through WhatsApp, telephone calls, social media or walk-in petitions, is logged, tracked and investigated,” Inniedo said.

He urged residents to report misconduct rather than confront officers on the road, adding that the unit aimed to resolve complaints within 21 days and provide feedback to complainants. ECAPI founder Adam said the organisation was established to promote public safety through awareness, crime prevention and collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

“Government and the police cannot do it alone. Security is everybody’s responsibility. We are not fighting the police; we are supporting them,” he said.

Adam said the rally would engage market women, students, commercial drivers and young people, adding that Lagos was the starting point of a wider campaign to be taken across Nigeria. “Our partnership with the CRU is for a safer Nigeria. We have worked with the NDLEA and in schools; now we are taking the campaign to the streets,” he added.