Nwanguma says a human rights-based approach to policing for communities begins with knowledge and awareness on the part of police officers
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Rule of Law, Accountability and Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has donated concise summaries of the Police Act 2020 and the Police Trust Fund Act 2019 to the Lagos State Police Command.
RULAAC’s executive director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, presented the books to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi during the 41 graduation ceremony of police human rights officers.
The police human rights officers were trained on the various aspects of human rights and how they could carry out their jobs without trampling on the rights of others.
Almost a hundred police officers drawn from the various divisions in the state’s command enrolled for the programme which spanned three months.
The training was the initiative of the Crime Victims Foundation (CRIVIFON).
Lagos State Police Commissioner, Abiodun Alabi said he is excited about the initiative, adding that knowledge is power. “If you don’t have the knowledge, you can’t do it right. I want to see our officers that have been trained exhibit the knowledge and apply it.”
Executive director of Crimes Victims Foundation, Gloria Egbuji, commended the Lagos Commissioner of Police for putting a human face to policing. “He has been like this. I’m very happy that he gave us his support.”
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She added: “If you are a civilian here and you pay for bail, you are on your own. The Lagos CP is enforcing this. All you have to do is to provide the police with an acceptable surety.”
She said 100 police officers were enrolled for the training but only 91 passed and graduated.
She said the successful graduands were all trained and passed the exams which involve having a grasp of the whole of chapter four of the 1999 constitution.
Nwanguma commended the Lagos State Police Command for embracing human rights training for its personnel. He said this is a clear testimony to the recognition of the importance of human rights by the command.
The RULAAC’s executive director emphasized the place of knowledge in the discharge of policing. He says human rights education should not only be given at all police training colleges nationwide but as a condition precedent for promotion to any higher rank at every stage.
He said: “In the Introduction to the Commonwealth Manual on Human Rights Training for Police, it was pointed out that ‘A human rights-based approach to policing for communities begins with knowledge and awareness on the part of police officers as to the limits of lawful police authority and conduct. Many of these limits are premised on fundamental rights. This knowledge and awareness require attention to be given to human rights elements of policing during initial, continuation and refresher training for police.’
“By definition, law enforcement requires that some coercive or forceful capability exists to ensure compliance with the law. Police are authorized to use force in certain circumstances, such as in effecting certain arrests, or in self-defence. From a human rights perspective, when police have the authority to use force, including firearms, the most important principle is of proportionality using minimum force. This means that if no force is needed, for example, to arrest a person, an officer should not use any force at all; if any force is used, it should be only so much as is strictly necessary to effect the arrest of that person.
“The new Police Act 2020 is also emphatic on this principle. The Police Act also provided safeguards to regulate the exercise of police powers. It went ahead to state that no junior police officer will be punished for refusing to obey unlawful orders by their superiors.
“The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the logical link between a lack of respect for human rights and the likelihood of disruption to the peace. Viewed in this way, the day-to-day conduct of police in protecting and ensuring the human rights of all persons contributes to safe, stable and peaceful communities. And violation of rights only undermines, rather than enables, the possibility of real security and stability.”
The event was attended by a lawmaker representing Ibeju/Lekki federal constituency, Prince Bayo Balogun, a human rights lawyer, Olasupo Ojo, and other dignitaries.
