Nation
Community Policing: Nigerians’ve No Confidence In Police, IGP Admits
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has admitted that one of the major problems facing the Nigeria Police Force is the public’s lack of confidence in the Force, adding that “there’s a lot of confidence-building mechanism being put in place to retrain the police to bring back confidence.”
He also said one of such mechanisms was community policing, which would bridge the gap and help the Force to be proactive.
The Police boss said: “Now a major problem is lack of confidence between the police and members of the public. That’s why the present administration was able to come up with community policing that all of us are trying to see how it will work.”
The Inspector-General said these at the public policy dialogue on “Policing and Human Rights in Nigeria”, an event organised by the House Committee on monitoring and implementation of the legislative agenda chaired by Hon Henry Nwawuba.
The event heralded a Police Reforms Bill 2020, which is due to be laid before the House soon.
The Police boss, who was represented by DIG Olushola Oyebande, said: “I want to say categorically that we know where we are coming from.
“If you go back to the roots, you find out from the colonial era what police used to be. When you don’t want your child to do anything, you tell them ‘I will call police for you’.
“Today there’s a lot of distrust and disconnect between the police and the public. So, the community policing, as it is, we’re trying to bring into focus; to bridge that gap. It’s going to be community-driven and problem-solving.
“We want to involve the community, the locals, to be part of policing of the area. They know the culture, the language, topography and that’s why we’re having the community policing initiative to train the locals to join us.
“So, all of these are being done— training of the personnel, bringing a lot of technical platforms to track down the heinous crimes we are facing today in terms of kidnapping— and I know the House Committee has done a lot in giving us the support.
“We need gadgets that are far ahead of the criminals’. So, all of this we are trying to put in place is to make sure that we get to that place and we will get there.”
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, who was at the event, described the current structure of the Nigerian Police Force as “too weak to identify, account, remove and prosecute rogue officers.”
On his part the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu, said that the Force, as presently structured, was not predisposed to protecting human rights, saying that they operate in a harsh environment.
The Alliance Française Port Harcourt in conjunction with the Embassy of France Nigeria over the weekend joined the globe to campaign against the 2025 gender- based violence (GBV) with the theme: “16 Days of Activism Against Gender- Based Voice”
The event which took place at the event Hall of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt was in collaboration with the Female in Gaming Network, ( FIGN) and partnership with Nexal a body that seeks to promote online safety and responsible digital behaviour.
The Tide reports that the project which was aimed at promoting digital safety and girls inclusion in Gaming, with the initiative tagged ‘Gameover Gender- Base Violence’was part of the global campaign against gender- based Violence.
The activity which experienced a flavour of festivity was full of fun and excitements as participants took part in tournaments on popular digital games such as Mario kart and EAFC 25, with an intent to creating safer and more inclusive digital spaces.
The Director of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal said that these activities were designed to encourage inclusion of girls, team work and fair play on online gaming spaces, saying that the gaming world reflects these inequalities, where female players are often under represented.
According to her the main objectives of the initiative was to provide a supportive environment for girls and female in gaming network.
“GameOverGBV” is a project created to reshape this landscape by offering an innovative inclusiveness of girls on online digital Gaming community and digital environments that provide opportunities for creativity, learning and connection, but also fight against Gender-Based Violence Digital Gaming,”she said
She however, explained that the Digital Game, sport competitions, was launched to strengthen social and digital skills through games, workshops, and raise awareness among all young participants about respect, equality and digital citizenship.
The Tide News reports that in Port Harcourt, the competition brought together 100 young participants from three major universities: University of Port Harcourt, ( UNIPORT),Ignatius Ajuru University of Education(IAUE) and Rivers State University (RSU)as well as students from four selected secondary schools, Oginigba comprehensive Secondary.School, Vine lnternational, Virgo predicanda lnternational, and Excellent Montessori Secondary school.
“This is an approach where girls and boys can learn, play and collaborate in a more respectful and safe space for young women, while ensuring a safe, enjoyable and respectful digital environment. It also expose young women to cyberbullying, exclusion, sexist comments and online hate,” Mrs. Lacal said.
Earlier, a game developer Sophia Nei and her. team had engaged participants in an interactive session with the theme: “Can Video Games Be Safe Spaces For Girls?”
However, Mrs Nei and her team educated the girls on the benefits and violence on online digital gaming and urged them ( participants)to learn to say ‘No’ to Online hate, sexist and cyber bullying, while encouraging them(students) to stand up for themselves by reporting such issues to the appropriate authority.
Highlight of the competition was the awarding of prizes to winners by the Director of Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal.
