International Alert, a Non Governmental Organisation, is partnering with the Nigeria Police Force in the operationalisation of community scorecards as a methodology to promote transparency and mutual accountability for better public safety and security.
Country Director of International Alert,
Dr Paul Nyulaku-Bemshima, stated this at a One-Day Consultative Workshop on “Mutual Accountability and Community Scorecard ” held in Abuja.
Nyulaku-Bemshima said the workshop is part of International Alert’s efforts to advance community policing and enrich police-community relations in Nigeria while strengthening trust and cooperation between the police and local communities through community scorecards.
A Community Scorecard is a tool that would allow both parties to assess their performance and work together to address areas of improvement.
“Mutual accountability is an approach in community policing which we are trialing for the first time in Nigeria. What makes mutual accountability distinct is that it recognises what responsibility the public has and also what the obligation of the police is, all towards improving public safety and security,” he said.
Nyulaku-Bemshima pointed out that a distinct point about the approach was its scoring system which would enable them to work together to address issues and score themselves on the positives and negatives as would be captured.
“So where the scores are looking good, they will work on how they can sustain it and where the scores are not good, seek understanding among themselves on how to address it. That is the hallmark of what mutual accountability, community, state and national level scorecard imply,” he added.
According to Nyulaku-Bemshima, the concept would facilitate the formulation of an evidence-based framework that would aid, stakeholders draft a work plan to help in designing a strategy on how to trickle down the approach to the community, then the state and national level subsequently.
Addressing the participants, the Programme Lead of, the UK Integrated Security Fund (ISF), Nigeria Stability Programme, Mr Cliff Gai, said as part of the strategic defence partnership between Nigeria and the UK,
ISF supports the programme that aims to help Nigeria operationalise and operate the Police Act of 2020.
“It is hoped that the funding that we provide will strengthen the operationalisation of this Act by ensuring that everybody understands what it says and that the police understand what it is saying in terms of how policing should be done in Nigeria.
“It is also for citizens to know what is expected of them in terms of supporting policing because security is everyone’s business, and so there are certain responsibilities that are expected of citizens as well, and not just the police officers out there,” Gai said.
The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi commending International Alert for the initiative, added that the force wants people to know exactly what it is doing and how to improve on it.
Represented by El-Mustapha Sani, Head of, the Complaint Response Unit, Force Headquarters, he said the force alone could not improve its services without the participation, income, and contribution from citizens and other stakeholders.
“At the Public Complaint Response Unit of the Nigerian Police Force, we deal with issues of members of the public who are not satisfied with our services,”
“The Nigeria Police Force’s door is open and always welcoming innovation that will make members of the public have trust in the Force to ensure the protection of human rights,” he added.
Deputy Secretary-General, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Mr Rikki Nwajiofor in his submission posited that the community scorecard would give community members a sense of belonging while validating the motto “The Police is your Friend”.
Nwajiofor said it would also create a communication synergy, to enable parties to assess positive and negative issues and give the police a sense of duty to forge ahead for better policing and a better Nigeria.
Benue State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police Catherine Anene, one of the participants, commended International Alert for contributing to the police’s drive to achieve a people-friendly force.
“This kind of engagement will help us to understand the populace, what to expect from them and then we have an opportunity to discuss with them to understand exactly what they perceive or how they see the police,” Anene said.
She added that additional knowledge from the workshop would promote good understanding and nurture the relationship between members of the public and the Police.
The workshop organized by International Alert brought together Police Public Relations Officers from 12 States, participants from the local communities as well stakeholders to ensure that the approach is owned and driven by the police and a broad range of stakeholders for better public safety and security in Nigeria.
The workshop funded by the UK Integrated Security Fund, Nigeria Stability Programme would over time be scaled up to other States in the country.
Dominica Nwabufo
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