A bill seeking to establish community police forums across
the country has passed second reading at the senate.
Speaking on Thursday, Haliru Jika, chairman, senate
committee on police, said the bill also seeks to address deficiencies in
pension, living conditions and weaponry among other issues.
Jika explained that some of the challenges confronting the
police have persisted because of the “draconian and outdated statutes that
guides policing in Nigeria.”
According to him, the existing police law does not have any
specific objective.
“Mr. President and respected colleagues, the new 3 (i) 11
also provides for the establishment of Community Police Forums and boards by
the commissioner of police of each state that shall consist of representatives
of the police force and the local community in the state,” the senator said.
“This clearly, is a paradigm shift from the traditional
police system to a community-participatory system of policing, uniting ordinary
citizens in their respective communities with the police in the prevention,
detection and resolving crimes.
“In order to address the prevailing issues of gender
discrimination in and by the police, a clause prohibiting discrimination on the
basis of gender in the Nigeria Police Force and by the force has been
deliberately inserted in the new bill.”
Speaking on the bill, Smart Adeyemi, senator representing
Kogi west, said effective policing must be community based.
“Effective policing must be community based. What we have at
present was what was put in place by colonial masters and inherited by the
military,” Adeyemi said.
“This bill will equally address the challenge of community
policing that we are talking about.”
The bill was adopted after Senate President Ahmad Lawan put
it to voice vote.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com