IT was more or less an unexpected opening of unread page when stakeholders from the Nigerian Police, Civil Society Organisations and Media Professionals engaged in interactive session, poured out their minds to unravel the string tied on the wound that affects their working relationship.
The most interesting part of it was how at both sides, participants voiced out their reservations at each other. The Police were throwing their blame stone at the Journalists that, Journalists do not always report their success stories, but prefer reporting negative stories instigating the public against them.
That really sparked a prolonged argument among the Police, CSOs and the Journalists as it was moderated by the Senior Fellow, Research Directorate, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Dr. Theophilus Danjuma Sheshi, who stood in for Professor Pam Dung Sha, as Chairman of the training.
The Journalists on their seperate parts with Yemi Kosoko, of Channels Television, Aminu Edegwu of Daily Trust newspaper, Polycarp Auta, of NAN, Danjuma Auta, of Today Challenge and Marie-theres Nanlong, of Vanguard newspaper raised issues on how the Police should respond to calls and feed them with appropriate and timely information about happenings to cement the gap between them.
The Civil Society Organisations were not left out in the argument as they also called on the Police to step down this training to the other ranks for them to understand that they were partners in the fight against injustice because most of them are ignorrant and sometimes rude and unbecoming to their personnel seeking for justice.
The Journalists on their seperate parts with Yemi Kosoko, of Channels Television, Aminu Edegwo of Daily Trust newspaper, Polycarp Auta, of NAN, Danjuma Auta, of Today Challenge and Marie-theres Nanlong, of Vanguard newspaper raising issues on how the Police should respond to calls and feed them with appropriate and timely information about happenings to cement the gap between them.
However, at the end of this mind refreshing interactive session where comments, questions and responses were entertained, the participants later came to an understanding that teamwork pays and was the only way out for them to cope all manner of crimes and injustices that are threatening our affecting society today.
The participants, while at wirkshop held at Crispan Hotel Zarmaganda Jos, Thursday, unanimously called on RULAAC to step down this awareness to local government areas across the country because it will go a long way in addressing some of the issues that has to do with distrust and injustice, and it was marvelous.
Although, the sitting arrangement earlier really depicted how separate they tend to misunderstand themselves while carrying out their respective duties because the Police were seen sitting on one side, the Journalists on other hand and the CSOs were seen in the middle, but in the course of interactions they were systematically reshuffled by Chairman of occasion, and it really brought to table the needed understanding.
Kudos to Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) for carefully selected these key participants to be part of the inauguration of the Police Stakeholders Partnership Accountability Forum (PSPAF) and Capacity Building for Human Rights Monitors in Plateau State, making the floor opened for them express and bring out grey areas that affect their respective areas of duties.
Apart from the inauguration of PSPAF, RULAAC with support from Open Security Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) organised training for Human Rights Monitors on Human Rights Monitoring Report Writing and it was graced by the State Commissioner of Police, CP Batholomew Onyeka, with three of his Divisional Police Officers from Nasarawa Ngwom, Rantya and Anglo Jos Divisions in attendance respectively.
Declaring the event opened, the Plateau State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Chrisantus, commended RULAAC and NHRC for organising such an awakening programme and that, the administration of Criminal Justice affects economy of every society, hence the need for people to access justice because it was very key to the development of every society.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion commended the state Commissioner of Police for deeming it fit to attend in person and that, it was an indication of how serious he has been to issues affecting the citizens and urged all participants to come together and work towards chatting a new course, describing the meeting as a gap analysis to understanding each other.
On his part, the Convener and Executive Director of RULAAC, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, said, “the general objective of this project is to facilitate the coordination and projection of the voices of communities affected by insecurity and to promote their involvement in designing and implementing workable solutions to insecurity in their communities.
“As we informed you in your various invitation letters, RULAAC, in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), is implementing “Community Access to Justice and Criminal Justice Interactive Project” to enhance access to justice to the poor and most vulnerable groups who are unequally and disproportionately affected by a dysfunctional criminal justice system”, he enthused.
While commending the Plateau State Coordinator, NHRC, Ms. Grace Pam, who was one of the resource persons, Nwanguma, prayed and hoped that the event would mark the beginning of a mutually rewarding relationship, mutual understanding and partnership between the Plateau State Police and CSOs, Journalists and all the communities it serves.
Presenting the Paper titled: “Role of Civil Society Organisations in Human Rights Monitoring, Reporting, Documentation and Advocacy”, the State Coordinator, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Ms. Grace Pam, thanked RULAAC for choosing Plateau State for the workshop for them to come and listen to each other and understand the challenges in our communities.
She commended the DPO of Nasarawa Gwom, SP Hassan Musa and his counterparts from Rantya and Anglo Jos Divisions from the wonderful work they were doing, urging Civil Society Organisations to create a Monitoring Desk as a Department in their respective organisations so that, information flow and monitoring would be effective.
Meanwhile, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Batholomew Onyeka, appreciated specially the Rule of Law and Acountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) for sharing in the Police reform vision of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, particularly in Community Policing saying, “the strength of this partnership and the commitment of all actors within the process will undoubtedly influence the extent of success we can record against the criminals.
“We should avoid ethnic profiling and colouration of situations as crime is not defined by ethnic background but by individual’s disposition and intents. Hence, we should appreciate that a crime is a threat to all groups and could be perpetrated by any individual or group.
“The key factor is that we should as a people, be determined to build a consensus and partner in condemning any act of criminality and resolving to work with the Police towards identifying, isolating and bringing the criminal elements within our communities to deserved justice regardless of their status, background, creed or gender”, he encouraged. It is our prayer that this synergy would bring better understanding their various roles in our society. God bless Nigeria!
