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ENUGU – Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative has called for collective efforts on promoting awareness and understanding of the Police Act 2020 in order to foster a culture of accountability and respect for human rights.
Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative also known as Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN),PWAN is a women-led non-governmental organization dedicated to enhancing citizens’ participation and improving security governance in Nigeria and West Africa broadly.
She stressed importance of community policing, police accountability, and citizen engagement.
The executive Director of PWAN , Ms. Kemi Okenyodo represented by Nkem Okereke stated this in Enugu on Thursday during the media town hall awareness on human rights, the police act and regulations
She said “Nigeria has faced systemic issues in its policing, characterized by allegations of corruption, misuse of power, and a significant disconnect between police operations and community expectations.
“These problems have been exacerbated by a lack of comprehensive understanding and inconsistent implementation of policing laws among the officers and management of the NPF.
“To address this, PWAN with support from the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) is implementing the project “Enhancing Police Governance: Deepening Understanding of the Police Act 2020 and Regulations across the six geopolitical zones; specifically in Kano, Plateau, Lagos, Edo, Enugu, Borno, and the FCT.
“Theproject seeks to address critical gaps in the understanding and application of the Police Act 2020 and the accompanying regulations within the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).
“PWAN aims to achieve this through capacity building for senior police officers, sensitization of the public on the provisions of the Act, and media town hall meetings on the provisions of the Act and media sensitizations. This will improve the knowledge of the police officers and citizens of recent changes and reforms within the police force and further improve human rights application as contained in the Act,” she said
n his presentation, Okechukwu Nwanguma described the Police Act 2020 as a significant improvement over its predecessor, bringing much needed reforms to Nigeria’s policing system.
According to him, the new Act is more gender responsive and includes vital safeguards to enhance police accountability and community engagement.
“Implementation of the Act is now critical. To achieve this, a proposed Multi-Stakeholder Police Reform Implementation Committee with a 3-year workplan has been recommended.
“Education of police officers on the improved provisions, public advocacy for citizen enlightenment, and review of outdated regulations are also essential,” he said
