Pay attention to sustaining democracy, organisations urge Nigerians

A civil Society Organisation, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and MacArthur Foundation have advised Nigerians to pay more attention to implementation of the Police Act 2020 and Police Trust Fund Act 2019 with a view to improving policing system and protecting civil rule.

The two organisations, while speaking at the Civil Society Organisations Observatory on implementation of the two laws, yesterday, in Ibadan, Oyo State, charged the citizens to demand better policing to save the nation’s democracy.

In his address, RULAAC’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said his organisation, being a member of a consortium implementing different activities under a police reform project supported by the foundation, was at the forefront of promoting police accountability in Nigeria.

He said: “Globally, police institutions have come under scrutiny and concerns about the delivery of their mandate, especially on the issue of extrajudicial killings and use of force beyond permissible levels by officers across the globe. Year 2020 witnessed massive global outrage, protests and upheavals precipitated by impunity of police brutality.”

Nwanguma pointed out that the intervention seeks to address the various concerns regarding policing practices in Nigeria geared at protecting the nation’s fragile democratic system.

Similarly, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 11, Oshogbo; Oyo State Commissioner of Police and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Oyo, who were represented at the event, stressed the need for the most populous black nation to ensure that projects designed to address police brutality and human right violations succeed.

Deborah Oluyemisi Collins, who spoke on behalf of the commissioner, disagreed with representative of the AIG, CSP, Fawole Adu, on what should be attitude of the police and the citizenry in the execution of both legislations.

Also speaking, Programme Manager, Legislative/Gender Issues, Nkiru Uzordi, harped on requisite training for Nigerian police officers.