Police Open Complaints Offices In Rivers, Enugu, Kano …Hold Town Hall Meeting In PH, ‘Morrow

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is set to establish Complaint Response Unit (CRU) offices in Rivers, Enugu, and Kano states while the Lagos office of CRU is to be expanded with the ultimate aim of making justice and accountability more accessible to the public.
To this end, a town hall meeting has been slated to hold in Port Harcourt tomorrow (Tuesday) to ventilate and synthesize the views of stakeholders to facilitate realisation of set goals.
The Police Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, made this known in a statement, noting that with the generous support and collaboration of the United Nations, the IGP was taking a significant step towards decentralising and expanding CRU’s presence across the country.
He stated that it was in line with the provisions of Section 131 of the Police Act 2020.
He said, “This expansion is a vital part of the IGP’s commitment to fostering a more transparent, accountable, and responsive policing system, and aligning with international best practices by significantly reducing the barriers faced by citizens when reporting issues, and will also expedite the resolution process.
“Consequently, the project would involve an outreach programme whose primary objective is to develop effective strategies and modalities that will facilitate the expansion of CRU services to under-served rural communities and individuals with limited access.
“To achieve this, interactive Town Hall meetings in each of the four states which will bring together 20 relevant stakeholders from these states, as identified by the respective commands have been scheduled.
“These sessions will provide a platform for open discussions and collaborations aimed at improving community-police relations and service quality.
“The town hall meetings will hold in Kano State on October 23; Lagos on October 25; Rivers on October 31; and in Enugu State on November 8, 2023”.
He explained that the CRU has been instrumental in addressing public grievances and concerns related to police misconduct, human rights violations, and other issues in the country.