New Telegraph

#EndSARS: NBA, CISLAC, others push for police reforms, punitive sanction against offenders

For Nigeria to attain its potential of full development and prosperity which would make it a reference point among comity of nations; there is an urgent need to address issues being raised by agitators against police brutality and proponents of the ongoing unrest of #EndSARS in the country.

Besides, President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration should be anxious to deliver quality governance to enhance socio-cultural and economic security for the increasingly restless population by ensuring functions and activities of various security institutions were streamlined to avoid conflict of roles.

These were parts of resolutions agreed by participants in Lagos at the weekend at a oneday Summit on Inter Agency Roundtable on Security Sector Reforms in Nigeria organized by Civil Society Legislature Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with Transparency International-Defence and Security Programme and The Dutch Ministry Of Foreign Affairs.

CISLAC which organized the one-day talk shop said Nigeria which had made significant milestones in political economy, would need to address major reform in security sectors as being manifested in leprous and lowscale war against insurgents in the North East, North West and a string of violent criminal gangs in Southern part of the country.

However, participants who thronged Amber Residence, Ikeja GRA Lagos were drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Legislative arm, MDAs, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), media, civil society, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and other major stakeholders.

They, however, resolved after hours of deliberations that security of lives and property in Nigeria which included but not limited to “main expectations and opportunities for security sector reforms in Nigeria; from regional to national: understanding the concept, principle, policy influence and coordination of Security Sector Reforms in Nigeria must top agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari- led administration. They said in a communiqué signed by CISLAC’s executive director, Malam Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani that there was an urgent need to fully employ Information Technology by digitalizing policing and other financial transactions which would enrich data gathering and storage apart from drastically reducing corruption within the system.

This, they said if addressed and embraced, it would curb obvious defects in the security framework which were symptomatic of a declining leadership quality, floundering cultural values as underlining the fact that the more a system failed to protect the people, the more likely citizenry would be lured to violence.

The communiqué reads: “That Nigerian leaders should be anxious to deliver quality governance to enhance social, cultural and economic security for the increasingly restless population; that the functions and activities of the various security institutions should be streamlined to avoid conflict of roles.

“That the security institutions should adopt information technology in order to enhance relevant security data and information storage; that the security institutions should place emphasis on intelligence gathering for an effective policing system. “Corruption should be holistically confronted within the policing system through sanctions for offenders and provision of better economic incentives for security personnel like insurance, social security and institutional capacity building as a corrupt electoral system cannot produce good leadership. Corruption in the electoral process should be immediately addressed to ensure the emergence of credible, honest and effective political leadership.

“The private sector and communities should be more involved towards public interest driven policing. “Nigeria should domesticate all relevant regional and international laws and conventions that would help promote security, peace and prosperity in the country, more importantly, the domestication and localizing SSG/R framework towards a National Action Plan on the ECPF.

“There is the need for a network of stakeholders for constructive engagement towards the realisation of these noble recommendations. “Participants commended CISLAC for its historic contributions over the years in partnership with local and international organisations towards an effective and robust security framework in Nigeria and West African sub region towards global peace.”

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