Community policing has been given a boost following the training of
para -military agencies to combat crime in Lagos state.
The two day workshop was organized by the Justice For All (J4A) in
collaboration with the DFID.
More than twenty personnel from the Neighborhood Watch, Vigilantes
and other community based outfits from the Agege local government
council received intensive training from seasoned security experts
among whom is the former commissioner for police Mr. Frank Odita.
The workshop which was conducted at the CLEEN Foundation office at
Ojudu from March 26th -27th also provided the participants the
opportunity to network with the professionals on tackling rural crime
and violence .
Dr. Eban , one of the lecturers at the workshop spoke on security
and human rights stating that community based security outfits have
a vital role in checking crime and criminality.
“Security is not determined how available guns and weapons are. It is
about creating the enabling environment that will make the use of
violence unnecessary” Dr. Eban said.
Dr. Eban added that the fundamental human rights of Nigerians have
been infringed upon due to government failure to provide adequate
security.
“Security is a social contract and it is the principal responsibility
of the state through the government to provide security for all
citizens, individual, groups and corporate. In return, the citizens
give loyalty to the state as they give up their rights to secure
themselves to the state sadly there is huge outcry for soft security
which is security of the basic necessities of food , housing
,clothing , dignity, protection from poverty , exploitation, disease ,
injustice which can be ensured by proving the enabling environment
for people to get their means of livelihood,
That contract stated that if the government fails in this social
contract, the citizens seeks to regain their rights to secure
themselves (self-help) and this is conductive for anarchy and
violation of human rights” Dr. Eban said.
Speaking on practical security management skills , Mr. Odita
hailed the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed
Abubakar for dismantling the police check points while stating that
indiscipline especially at the checkpoints is the bane of the Nigeria
Police Force.
“ The “DIET” of a police man is first Discipline, if you are not
discipline, you are rotten. Discipline attracts respect. “I” is for
integrity, “E” for Enlightenment while “T” is for Tactical and with
this “DIET” any police man is ready for the job ” Mr. Odita said.
Mr. Odita also admonished the participants to carry out their jobs of
securing lives and property with human face “ Any person wearing a
security uniform is a policeman and the police officer’s first duty is
not just to carry out arrest but to prevent crime” He said.
Also Speaking on arrest and detention of suspects, Mr. Odita said
“ Arrest will involve the use of minimal force and the obedience to
respect human rights ; the force applied must be commensurate with
the force threatened.” He said.
The participants expressed gratitude to the organizers of the
workshop, while urging the government to play the leading role in
providing capacity and training for community based security outfits.
“This training will go a long way in assisting us in community
policing. The training has opened our eyes on how to effectively and
professionally combat crime in our vicinity; a lot of this training is
done by NGOs and private outfits so it is good for government to get
to the grassroots and carry out training for the local vigilante
because we are closer to the people” Abayomi Adewale, the Vice
Chairman of the Vigilante Group from Isale -oja , Agege said.
Morufu Kelani the Head of the Neighbourhood Watch at Dopemu
Agege said the workshop will assists his members to perform
their job effectively.
“ We have a lot of intelligence on black spots in out neighbourhood
and with this training, we can work effectively with the police in
carrying out our job professionally as our aim is stamping out
crime ; this knowledge we have acquired will be taken back to impact
on other members who are not here” Mr. Kelani said.