Some human rights stakeholders in Bauchi state, on Thursday, said that synergy and trust between the Nigerian Police and the citizens would promote peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.
They stated this in a communique issued at the end of a stakeholders engagement meeting on trust building between the citizens and security agencies, facilitated by Foundation for Societal Empowerment and Rejuvenation (FOSER), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO).
Some of the stakeholders in the engagement meeting include; the Police, officials from the Department of State Services (DSS), Persons With Disabilities, Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Others included; religious and traditional leaders, civil society groups, selected youth, women groups, the media, officials of civil right commission, among others.
They lamented that lack of trust between the Nigerian Police and the citizens in the country is a great threat to a peaceful society and a factor contributing to the violation of human rights.
"There is a lack of trust between the police and the citizens, the society’s perception of the police is negative, often viewed as corrupt, brutal, insensitive, illiterate, dirty and untrained.
"The police on the other hand, for example with the End SARS experience, find it difficult to trust the citizens and again, the community sometimes hide criminals.
"All these continue to pose a threat to human security and contribute to the violation of human rights," they said.
The stakeholders stated that the objective of the meeting was drawn from the consideration that promotion of human rights is a collaborative effort of both security agents and citizens.
They added that the meeting would also help to reduce police brutality by 20 per cent through education in Bauchi state with an overall vision of Nigeria where everyone’s human rights are protected.
They said "citizens themselves in a way consciously or unconsciously contribute to the decadence obtainable in the police force due to lack of value attached to police work.
"This is reflected often by recommending or sending unqualified members of the society to join the Police Force of which often some of these recommended persons from the society are most times over aged people who cannot be easily trained.
"The implication of having unqualified persons in the police force will continue to pose a threat to lives or brutality to the citizens unless it is addressed".
In order to address the issue, the stakeholders advocated for the implementation of constitutional rights and responsibilities to promote the issue of human rights.
They also advocated for an increase in the awareness of Human Rights as well as the need for the Civil Society Organisations and security agencies to enlighten security agents on the rules of engagement.
The communique was jointly signed by Mr Sani Inuwa, a representative of the Law Enforcement Agents, Usma'u Yahaya, the Representative of CSOs, Human Right Commission and PWDs.
Other signatory to the communique include; Usama Muhammad, the Representative of Religious and Traditional Leaders and Abdulsalam Saleh from Youth groups.
The stakeholders engagement meeting was also a collaboration of Initiative for the Liberalization of Persons With Disability in Nigeria, (ILPWDN) with the support of Voice Nigeria from Global Affairs Canada.
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