CSOs demand evidence of CCTV cameras installed by Akwa Ibom govt

Civil society groups, COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peace Building and Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), have urged the Akwa Ibom State Government to provide evidence of the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras it installed in border communities of the state.

Executive Director of COMPART, Saviour Akpan, who spoke with journalists in Uyo, yesterday, maintained that the cameras would have assisted in repelling the frequent attacks on security formations in the state.

National Chairman of NOPRIN, Emmanuel Ikule, also blamed the frequent attacks on stations and murder of police officers across the state on poor management of security information members of the public make available to the police.

He linked the reoccurring police crisis in Nigeria to accumulated lacunae by successive governments, noting that they failed to listen to the voice of civil society groups, a situation he said, alienated Nigeria security forces from the civil populace.

“Nigeria security apparatuses have been alienated from the civil populace over the years. It is becoming very difficult for members of the public who might have been part of the family before some of the nefarious acts to give information to the police for fear of reprisals because of poor crime information management within the system. That is the problem.

“In the case of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Udom Emmanuel has been lying to members of the public that he has installed CCTV cameras in all border communities. But before I can confirm that the Akwa Ibom State Government has done enough in the area of security, Governor Emmanuel play the CCTVs that he claimed to have installed,” Ikule stressed.

He lamented that a lot of persons in government were joking with security and making trivialising it as a mere security slogan and that the state had not done enough.

“In the case of Ini Council, I suggest that the police authorities should reduce the Divisional Police Officer’s (DPO) rank because it was embarrassing for him to have lost guard to the extent of recording such casualties. They should reduce his rank so that others will sit up,” he added.

Former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Victor Iyanam, blamed ineffectiveness of security formations on lack of officers, adding that the few available policemen had been shared to politicians.

Insisting that the Nigerian Police had failed, he expressed support for state policing, stressing that it would enable the states to effectively control their security personnel.