Group To Partner Enugu On Justice Delivery

The National Programme Manager of Justice for All (J4A), Mr Bob Arnot, has pledged to collaborate with the Enugu State Government to improve personal security and access to justice by all.

Addressing stakeholders in the justice delivery system in Enugu State during a sensitisation programme on Wednesday, Arnot said the programme, sponsored by DFID and which started in 2010, would last till 2015.

He said the group would work with the police to maintain community policing in association with volutantary organisations and vigilance groups so that together they could provide Enugu residents with adequate security.

“The importance of community policing is to bring policing closer to the communities because security is important in communities,’’ he said.

According to him, the programme has four components of safety and security, justice, anti-corruption and cross-sector coordination with overall funding of N40 million in five states of Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa and Enugu.

In his address, Gov. Sullivan Chime, represented by his deputy, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, said DFID had been a good partner to the state in different areas.

He noted that the state government was interested in justice sector reform which informed its decision to give it priority.

Onyebuchi said that government would give all needed support for the programme to succeed as it would impact on lives of people of the state.

“When you talk of Justice for All, you talk of equitable, affordable, available and accessible to the people and not justice for the privileged alone.

“This programme will transform the way policing is done in the state as well as the way judicial and legal officers operate in the state,’’ he said.

Reacting to the programme, one of the participants, Mr Chris Ntewo, the Comptroller of Prisons in the state, said the establishment would provide necessary support to ensure that the objectives were realised.

On his part, Mr Godwin Ogenyi, the Commissioner in-charge of Neighborhood Watch Associations in the state, said he would sensitise them to key into the programme.

The event was attended by officers from the police, prison service, the judiciary and civil society organisations.