Friday 14 December 2012

Ford Foundation Appoints Innocent Chukwuma to Lead Its West Africa Office


NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Ford Foundation today announced the appointment of Innocent Chukwuma as representative for West Africa, serving Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Chukwuma will be based in the Ford Foundation's office in Lagos and will oversee all of the foundation's work in the region.
Chukwuma is a globally-renowned advocate for human rights and good governance as well as a leading scholar on police and criminal justice reform in West Africa. Most recently, he founded and led the CLEEN Foundation, a civil society group that promotes public safety, security and accessible justice in West Africa. He has also held various posts with the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), one of Nigeria's first human rights organizations. He is the CEO and Chair of the Altus Alliance, a global network of nonprofits, and is a member of the International Society for Criminology.
Chukwuma is a member of the boards of many non-profits and initiatives against crime and violence around the world. These include the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), Open Society Global Criminal Justice Fund and a member of the Africa Advisory Council of Human Rights Watch.
"Innocent is an absolutely ideal leader to continue the Ford Foundation's long legacy of support for democratic participation, equal opportunity, and transparency throughout West Africa," said Darren Walker, vice president for Education, Creativity and Free Expression at the foundation. "We couldn't be more excited for him to assume this important leadership position at this moment of incredible potential for the region."
Chukwuma is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Reebok International Human Rights Award. He holds a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Leicester in the UK and a Bachelors degree from the University of Nigeria. He also served as a visiting lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he designed and taught a course on management of non-profits in the Global South.
"I am deeply honored to lead the Ford Foundation's work in West Africa," Chukwuma said. "Ford has long been an essential resource for social change and visionary leadership throughout the region, and I am incredibly optimistic about what we can continue to accomplish in the important years that lie ahead."
For more than half a century, the Ford Foundation has been committed to strengthening democracy throughout the region. Today, as West Africa is on the verge of a new era of peace and prosperity, the foundation is working with visionary leaders in civil society and government who are expanding participation in the democratic process and accelerating the pace of social change. We support efforts to engage government on behalf of the marginalized and underrepresented, and help civil society empower these communities.
Chukwuma will begin his new position in January 2013.  He was selected after a broad international search.
The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For over 75 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
SOURCE Ford Foundation
http://news.yahoo.com/ford-foundation-appoints-innocent-chukwuma-lead-west-africa-161400474.html

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Groups plan assessment of 200 police stations


Nigeria Police Force logo
Human rights organisations will between December 3 and 9, visit 200 police stations in 14 states to assess among other things the detention centres and quality of services in them.
Members of the group are Altus Global Alliance, CLEEN Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Justice 4 All.
They will visit police stations in Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom; Enugu; Federal Capital Territory; Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Niger, Rivers and Zamfara states.
The stations will be assessed based on international laws and protocols on policing and human rights.
Addressing journalists on the planned visit on Wednesday, in Abuja, Country Director, Justice 4 All, Bob Arnot, said the essence was to ensure accountability in the police.
According to him, the visit will enable local community groups to visit police stations and assess the quality of services delivered in them as well as to identify best practices used by police.
He said, “The programme relies on planned annual visits by community groups to their local police stations. They join people around the world to visit and and review their local police stations using a simple assessment tool kit composed of 20 questions based on five indicator areas drawn from international laws and protocols on policing and human rights.”
Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, a Chief Superintendent of Police, on the occasion, said the Nigeria Police had been participating in the programme since 2006.
He added that the force had benefitted from the project in human rights protection and knowledge.
Also, the regional representative of AGA and deputy executive director, CLEEN Foundation, Mrs. Kemi Okenyodo, said the visit would further bring the activities and the operations of the police to the public domain.


http://www.punchng.com/news/groups-plan-assessment-of-200-police-stations/

Expert says FG not serious in equipping Police to fight Boko Haram


A criminologist and member of the Cleen Foundation, Innocent Chukwuma on Tuesday said the Federal government is not serious in equipping the police with the required arsenal to combat crimes and terrorism in Nigeria.
Mr Chukwuma, who was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, wondered why it is taking the Federal government so much time to produce a white paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on the Reorganisation of the Nigeria Police which was submitted on Tuesday August 14, 2012.
He said: “While the committee is sitting to draw up the white paper, we saw last week Wednesday and Thursday, the Minister of Police Affairs brought in Accenture Management group to come up with some fancy slides about road map in reforming the police.
“We are asking on what basis is this map since the white paper has not come out. Could it be that because the Ministry was recommended for scrapping in the Perry Osayende report that he wanted to come up with a parallel thing?”
The criminologist said this move by the Ministry of Police Affairs gives a hint that there is no coordination and seriousness by the government in fighting crime and terrorism in Nigeria.

source http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/11/27/expert-says-fg-not-serious-in-equipping-police-to-fight-boko-haram/

PRESS STATEMENT POLICE STATION VISITORS’ WEEK 2012

Introduction

On behalf of the Altus Global Alliance and its member organization in Nigeria, CLEEN Foundation, the Nigeria Police Force, National Human Rights Commission, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Justice 4 All, warmly welcome you all to this press briefing, which is being organized to publicly announce the commencement of this year's edition of the Altus's Annual Police Station Visitors Week (PSVW).

About Altus
   
Altus is an alliance of 6 non-governmental organizations and academic centers in five continents, created in 2004 to promote safety and justice around the world from a multicultural perspective. These organizations are:



1.      Centre for Studies on Public Safety, Santiago, Chile
2.      Centre for studies on Public Security and Citizenship, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
3.      CLEEN Foundation, Lagos, Abuja, and Imo
4.      Institute for Development Communication, Chandigarh, India
5.      INDEM Foundation, Moscow
6.      Vera institute of Justice, New York

One of the focal point of Altus's work is Police Accountability and since 2006 Altus Global Alliance has been carrying out the Altus Police Station Visitors’ Week in different countries across the 5 continents. Together, these organizations offer a greater capacity to work across matters on issues of safety and justice and a larger role for the civil society in advancing justice from a multicultural perspective.

What is PSVW all about?

The Altus annual Police Station Visitors' Week (PSVW) is an international program that is organized to facilitate local community groups visiting police stations and assessing the quality of services delivered by police departments, to identify best practices used by police and to strengthen the accountability of police to the local community.

The program relies on planned annual visits by community groups to their local police stations. They join with people around the world to visit and review their local police stations by using a simple assessment tool kit composed of 20 questions based in 5 indicator areas. The indicator areas are drawn from international laws and protocols on policing and human rights. By participating in the visits participants are overseeing and improving police services. The information they gather from during the visits are uploaded on to an innovative web- based model which simultaneously generates as a database.

For many of the visitors especially those who are female, poor, or marginalized for other reasons the experience provides their first real access to local law enforcement and a platform for expressing their views about whether the police are serving all members of their community. The visitors use the PSVW Tool Kit to guide their visit, following protocols that are the same for visits around the world.

The PSVW Tool Kit includes a simple scoring system that allows each individual to assess each station in 20 areas, producing scores on five categories of service: 1) Community Orientation, 2) Physical Condition, 3) Equal Treatment of the Public, 4) Transparency and Accountability, and 5) Detention Conditions.

Immediately after each visit, participants answer a series of questions about what they observed. Their answers are later collected and uploaded to the Altus website. Using the ratings supplied by the visitors, the Altus website will calculate an overall score for each station and separate scores into five categories of service. Police stations that receive the highest overall scores will later be recognized with an award at a forum where it will share with colleagues information about its winning practices. The Inspector General of Police and Commissioners of Police in the participating states will receive a summary of the scores of the participating police stations, this would directly help them enhance, modify or change the strategies of engagement and interaction with groups within the communities the police serve. The program does not seek to “shame and blame” any participating police department, but only provides score information to participating stations and visitors.

PSVW provides a unique platform for police departments to establish better relationships with their host communities by receiving valuable and difficult to obtain feedback from community members on where services lag, and how to improve the quality of services available. In the same aphorism, as part of a global program, visitors are able to place their individual judgments about the quality of police service at their own police stations in national, regional, and global contexts.

PSVW 2012 Edition

PSVW 2012 edition is scheduled to take place from the 3rd December – 9th December, 2012. A total of 7 confirmed countries participating in the African continent. These are:

1.      Benin
2.      Cameroon
3.      Ghana
4.      Kenya
5.      Liberia
6.      Nigeria
7.      Sierra Leone
8.      Gambia

In the Gambia, the police have indicated interest to be part of the visit however we are still waiting for confirmation from civil society groups to want to visit the police stations in the Gambia. Burundi has indicated interest to be part of the visit in 2013. We are awaiting confirmation from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania.

This year we are aiming to mobilize more women, low income, religious, ethnic minority and other marginalized / vulnerable groups to participate in the visits.


PSVW 2012 in Nigeria

In Nigeria the visits would take place in Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Federal Capital Territory, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Niger, Rivers and Zamfara. We are expecting to visit over 200 police stations spread across the identified police commands. In January 2013 we would release the results of the visits and the top 5 police stations among the participating Police Commands would be announced.

We would like to use this opportunity to invite representatives of the media to be part of the visits considering the pivotal role they play in enhancing police accountability and fostering police community relationship in the country.

We also use the opportunity to appreciate those that have made the PSVW a reality. The National Human Rights Commission for providing the facilties for the sensitization and training of police officers and visitors, funding support for Nigeria is being provided by Justice For All (J4A) and Frederick Ebert Stiftung (FES), the Nigeria Police Force like other police organizations that have taken the decision to open their doors to the visitors – this is an indication of commitment to working closely with their communities. We thank you all for taking out time out of your busy schedules to grace this press briefing, thank you all for coming.




‘Kemi Okenyodo
Regional Representative
Altus Global Alliance

Monday 26 November 2012

Invitation to Participate in the Altus Police Station Visitors' Week, 2012


CLEEN Foundation would be organising the Altus Police Station Visitors' Week 2012 from the 3rd - 9th Dec 2012 in 13 States and FCT spread across the country. The participating states are 

1. Kano
2. Jigawa
3. Lagos
4. Enugu
5. Niger
6. Kaduna
7. Zamfara
8. Katsina
9. Anambra
10. Rivers
11. Imo
12. Abia
13. Akwa Ibom
14. FCT. 

The PSVW is an annual event in which citizen groups assess their local police stations, coordinated globally to produce comparable scores on five dimensions of police service. These assessments help improve police services. The scores allow identification of effective practices and the process evolves stakeholder coalitions to help bridge citizen access to accountable and transparent police services which Altus partners will help to strengthen as part of ongoing collaborations. 

The visit has been ongoing since 2006 and Nigeria has participated since inception. This year the following countries would be participating in Africa – Benin, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Gambia.

For further information please contact: Abuja – Simon Shanew 08135591138, Imo – Ifeanyi Anyanwu – 08033582275 and Lagos – Blessing Abiri – 08033463309.

Friday 23 November 2012

Altus Police Station Visitors' Week 2012 Training Schedule For Nigeria


1. Press Conference to Flag off the PSVW 2012 on Wednesday 28th November, 2012 @ FHQ by 9:00am 

2. Sensitisation for the Police in the FCT Thursday 29th @ National Human Rights Commission by 9:00am 

3. Sensitisation for Police Officers in Lagos @ the Lagos State Police Command on Monday 26th November 2012 by 3pm. 

4. Training of Visitors in the FCT on Thursday 28th November 2012 @ NHRC by 12pm. 



TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR SOUTH-EAST AND SOUTH-SOUTH

S/N
STATE
VENUE
DATE
TIME
1
Imo
Assumta Pastoral Centre, Wetheral Road, Owerri.
30/11/2012
10.00am
2
Rivers
Alu Suites, No. 3 Kala Road (Near Kala Police Station), by Kala busstop, Ikwerre Road , Port Harcourt.
1/12/2012
10.00am
3
Abia
Kolping Society, World Bank Housing Estate, Umuahia.
3/12/2012
10.00am
4
Akwa Ibom
Summit Complex Hotels, 97 Udo Umana Street, Uyo
4/12/2012
9.00am
5
Enugu
CRUDANSE/ Dear Africa, No. 4 / 8 Anyaegbunem streeet Adjacent
to MTN office off Zik Avenue Unwani Enugu.
5/12/2012
10.00am
6
Anambra
Gelly Garden and Resort, Sectariate Road, Aroma, Awka
6/12/2012
9.00am






Thursday 1 November 2012

Civil Society panel calls for inclusive police force


One of such findings by the CSOs include consulting the people and their priorities factored into the reform process so that their support for reform programmes can be guaranteed

policemen
Community support and participation are critical to improving police performance and confronting the insecurity in the country, Innocent Chukwuma, the Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, has said.
Chukwuma, who represented the Civil Society Organisation in Nigeria, revealed during a media presentation in Lagos State that a panel on police reform organised the by Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria have discovered the multidimensional problems facing the police and how to make the police function optimally.
One of such findings by the CSOs include consulting the people and their priorities factored into the reform process so that their support for reform programmes can be guaranteed.
He said: “Official debates about police reform in Nigeria and committees established by successive governments to facilitate such discussions and recommendations of measures for implementation have mostly been dominated by people with a security background who view such assignments as their exclusive preserve.
“As a result, their reports have often focussed on increasing policing capacity in the areas of personnel strength, materials for work and welfare, as though once these are right, the NPF will be super effective and efficient.
“While not belittling the significant difference a properly resourced NPF can make in addressing the safety and security challenges currently confronting Nigeria, experience from other jurisdictions has shown that it requires more than this for the police to win.”
In order to bridge the gap in ensuring a working police reform programme, the CSOs decided to set up a parallel but complementary Civil Society Panel on Police Reform in Nigeria.
Ayo Obe chaired the six-person panel, whose other members are Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, Sampson Itodo, Dr. Abubakar Mu’azu, Ayisha Osori and Dr. Smart Otu.
Chukwuma provided technical advice, Chinedu Nwagu served as the Secretary and Okechukwu Nwanguma served as the CSO liaison officer.
In its work, the CSO Panel paid more attention to salient issues that may not necessarily require a great deal of money before they can be addressed, but are often ignored in the work of government committees on police reform.
However, the CSO Panel recognised the impact of material deficiencies on the effectiveness of the NPF and aligns with reports of government committees on such issues.
Factors affecting police effective performance that were identified by the panel include inadequate articulation of the NPF’s mission, legal framework, specialisation of functions, performance appraisal system, duplication of policing agencies, weak oversight agencies and corruption.
Chukwuma said: “The Panel found the mission statement of the NPF as provided in Section 4 of the Police Act inadequate in capturing the expectation of the new kind of police Nigeria requires in the context of its disheartening experience of police inefficiency and brutality and hope for a democratic society of security and liberty. In proposing a new mission statement for the NPF the CSO Panel is of the view that focus should be on modelling a new police service that works in partnership with the communities it serves.”
In one of its recommendations, the panel stated that the National Assembly should “Amend Section 215(3) of the Constitution and sections 9(4, 5) and 10(1, 2) of the Police Act to restrict the role of the President or Minister of Government acting on his behalf to issuing only lawful policy directives, not operational directives, to the NPF. The amendment should state clearly and unambiguously that operational control of the NPF and its department/units rests with the IGP.
“Sections 215(1) and 216(2) of the Constitution should be amended as part of the present constitutional reform process to:
“Provide for a competitive and transparent process to be followed in the appointment of an IGP if the position becomes vacant, including an open application process, screening of applicants, Senate hearing and confirmation of the most competent person for the job.”
Other recommendations by the Panel included:
That the “NPF structure should be decentralised and powers and resources devolved to Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands to enable them effectively respond to the priority safety and security needs of their jurisdictions.
· The seven DIG structure should be abolished, and the IGP should have just one DIG who should serve as his second in command. The headquarter departments should be headed by AIGs in the same way as Zonal Commands.
“The CSO Panel found that the NPF has turned most police officers in Nigeria into ‘jacks-of-all-trades’ who in the end, are not able to master any. The ‘general duty policy’ should be abolished. Every police officer should be given a time line of five years to specialise after recruitment, be a promotable officer or go home. Diverse professionals such as criminologists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, doctors, pathologists and others should be recruited as police officers and allowed to practice their professions within the police service, and be promotable in their areas of expertise as is done in services such as the military.”

Wednesday 31 October 2012

ALTUS POLICE STATION VISITORS' WEEK 2012 3RD - 9TH DECEMBER 2012.


Police Stations Visitors Week is a unique global event organized by Altus to assess the quality of services delivered in the participating police departments, to identify some of the best practices in use by police, to strengthen the accountability of police to the local citizens whom they serve and to promote human rights standards.

On 3-9 December 2012 Altus will organize Police Stations Visitors Week. Police stations around the world will receive hundreds of local citizens to assess the quality of services provided by police.

For more information contact psvw@cleen.org

Monday 22 October 2012

Preliminary Statement by CLEEN Foundation on the Conduct of Security Officials during the Ondo State Gubernatorial Election held on Saturday, 20 October 2012


In line with its commitment to promoting effective and accountable policing of elections in Nigeria, the CLEEN Foundation, with support from DfID’s Justice for All (J4A) Programme, observed the conduct of security officials during the Ondo state gubernatorial election held on Saturday 20 October 2012. Before the election, CLEEN Foundation organized a number of activities in the state aimed at contributing to public safety and security during the election. First, it conducted a pre-election security threat assessment to examine and highlight the potential security risks, flashpoints and mitigating factors to those threats. The finding of this assessment was shared broadly with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies and civil society groups. Second, it organized a one day training workshop on election security management for all the Divisional Police Officers and other senior officials under the Ondo state police command. This workshop provided a forum to share useful ideas on how to effectively police the election, deploy security personnel and ensure safety throughout the exercise. Third, it published abridged versions of the Police Service Commission’s Guidelines for the Conduct of Police Officers on Electoral Duty in a national daily and the two local newspapers in Ondo State with contact numbers for the call centre it had set up to collate complaints and incident reports from the public on the conduct of security officials during the election. Lastly, having obtained accreditation from INEC, it recruited, trained and deployed observers in all 18 local government areas (LGAs) in the state to observe the conduct of security operatives on election duty. This statement presents the preliminary findings of that observation exercise.

Background
The Ondo State gubernatorial election, though contested by candidates from 12 political parties, was largely a three horse race between Akeredolu Rotimi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party, the incumbent governor who is seeking re-election and Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Soldiers, State Security Service agents, police and other security officials were deployed in significant numbers across the state, perhaps, in response to perceived threats to peace during the election. The key threats include the activities of political gangs across the state, the presence of militants in the riverine area, the porosity of the border with neigbouring states, allegations of plans to rig the elections and the history of competitive elections and violence in the state.

Observations
1.       There was significant security presence across the state. Armed military personnel mounted stop and search units along major roads and though this was intimidating initially, it was perhaps helpful in deterring incidents of violence, movement of political thugs and other threats to peace and security as no major incident was recorded.
2.       Deployment of security personnel to polling stations was also well coordinated as most polling units had at least 2 security agents. However, the urban areas had more security presence at polling stations.  Security officials posted to polling station were unarmed. In most cases, they arrived early, escorted the INEC officials and materials to the various units, stayed for the duration of the election and escorted the INEC officials to collation centres after the election.
3.      Security officials at polling units conducted themselves professionally. They were approachable, impartial and alert. Most observers noted that the polling units had adequate security and in areas where security presence at the polling unit was inadequate, they called for back-up and this was promptly provided. There were a few incidents of use of force, but in most places where these were recorded, it also reportedly necessary and proportionate.
4.      The activities of some party loyalists, party agents and political thugs however posed some challenges during the election. For instance, accreditation started by 9am and was still on-going by past 1pm at Polling Unit 007, Ward 5, Owo LGA because area boys had caused disturbance and delays at the collection center. At Polling Unit 005, Ward 6, Akoko South West, party loyalists were distributing money and this almost caused chaos but for the intervention of security agents who arrested him and calmed the situation. At polling unit 4, Council Secretariat, Ilaje LGA, a party agent wore party uniform and others objected to this. He was forced to take it off by the security officials on duty at the Unit.
5.      The deployment of logistics still posed security challenges during the election. In a number of polling areas, INEC officials and voting materials arrived late. This was particularly prevalent in the polling units in ward 2, Akure South, where the voters had to wait until voting materials arrived at 2:30pm. This gave the security agents posted there a handful of issues to manage. In some other cases, for example in Polling unit 003, Ward 3, Ese Odo LGA, disagreements ensued when people could not find their names in the voters register and therefore could not be accredited to vote. Security agencies had to work hard to maintain order and peace.  
6.      Crowd control remains a challenge for security operatives. In several polling units, the number of registered voters was over one thousand (1,000) and where a significant number showed up for accreditation and voting, the security agents were simply overwhelmed. The ensuing chaos slowed down the accreditation process, resulted in pushing, and fighting in a few instances cases. In some of these places, calls had to be made for back up or intervention by armed officials to restore order. At Polling unit 003, Ojomo Ayeka, Okitipupa LGA, the 3 security operatives posted there could not manage the crowd until community elders and other security operatives intervened.

Recommendations
  1. INEC’s logistics deployment strategy requires urgent and immediate revision and should take advantage of the staggered elections to focus and better coordinate it’s resources to ensure that materials and persons arrive early at the various units.
  2. INEC should also undertake a complete review and harmonization of the voters register to reduce incidents of missing photos, names etc.
  3. The training and retraining and effectively deployment of INEC ad hoc staff and monitors should be given immediate attention.
  4. Security officials should be better trained in crowd control and should be better equipped to manage conflict situations. Synergy and coordination amongst them can also be improved upon.
  5. The heavy involvement of military personnel during elections remains a concern. Early detection of security threats helps in addressing them before the election, thus the heavy involvement of the military should be minimized as it usurps civil policing functions and undermines the capacity of the police to better secure elections.

We congratulate INEC, the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies and the people of Ondo State for the peaceful conduct of the election. We also thank the Justice for All (J4A) programme of the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID) for its generous support towards the observation of this election.

The CLEEN Foundation is a non-governmental organization established in 1998 and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), to promote public safety security and accessible justice. CLEEN Foundation is a member of several networks across the world and also has observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

CIVIL SOCIETY PANEL ON POLICE REFORM IN NIGERIA 2012



SUBMISSION OF REPORT OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY PANEL ON
POLICE REFORM IN NIGERIA

            Your Excellency will recall that on February 17, 2012, you inaugurated a nine-person Presidential Committee on the Reform of the Nigeria Police Force chaired by Mr. Parry Osayande, Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police.  It had five Terms of Reference on which to advise your government on measures that can be taken to improve the performance of the Nigeria Police and restore public confidence in the institution.

            Coming against the background of three previous Presidential Committees on Police Reform established by your predecessors whose recommendations were neither made public nor seriously or scrupulously implemented, the response of civil society in Nigeria to Mr. Osayande’s Committee was expectedly mixed.  However, being of the view that the task of reforming the Nigeria Police Force is too important to be left to government alone, key non-governmental organisations working on police reform issues in Nigeria decided to engage the process in a creative and proactive way through the establishment of a parallel but complementary Civil Society Panel on Police Reform in Nigeria, using the same terms of reference drawn by your government.  The Panel operated under the auspices of the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) with technical support and facilitation by the CLEEN Foundation.

            In order to carry out this assignment effectively, the Panel consulted widely with stakeholders in civil society, government, political parties, security agencies, women’s organisations, the media and the general public.  We interacted with senior and junior police officials including the Inspector General of Police, Mr. M.D. Abubakar, and benefited from their wealth of experience in police and policing matters.  The Panel requested and received memoranda from the general public.  We also held public hearings in seven cities in each of Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory, during which oral and written presentations were made by members of the public and other interested stakeholders.

            We have the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Panel has completed its work. Consequently, we hereby submit the Report of the Panel for the consideration of the Government.

            We hope that the recommendations of this Panel, which draws heavily from major voices in civil society, will complement those of Mr. Osayande’s Committee in guiding your Government in its efforts to reposition and transform the Nigeria Police into an effective and accountable public service institution.

            We seize this opportunity to express our appreciation to you Mr. President, for agreeing to receive our parallel but complementary report.  This is an indication of the willingness of your Government to welcome alternative views when responding to critical national challenges, and we cannot think of any issue more critical to the survival of our nation at this juncture in our history, than repositioning the Nigerian Police Force to effectively and efficiently discharge its functions in partnership with the communities it serves.

            Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of our highest esteem and respect.   



----------------------------
Mrs. Ayo M.O. Obe
Chair



---------------------------------                                           ---------------------------------
Dr. Smart Otu                                                             Dr. Abubakar Mu’azu
Member                                                                       Member



---------------------------------                                           ---------------------------------
Mrs. Josephine Effah-Chukwuma                              Ms. Ayisha Osori       
Member                                                                       Member                      



---------------------------------                                           ----------------------------
Mr. Sam Itodo                                                                        Chinedu Nwagu
Member                                                                       Secretary



---------------------------------
Mr. Innocent Chukwuma
Technical Adviser





Abbreviations And Acronyms

AIG                             Assistant Inspector General of Police
APER                          Annual Performance Evaluation Report
CDHR                         Committee for the Defence of Human Rights
CLEEN                       Centre for Law Enforcement Education
CIB                             Criminal Investigation Bureau
CID                             Criminal Investigation Department
CSO                            Civil Society Organisation
DIG                             Deputy Inspector General of Police
EFCC                          Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
FRSC                          Federal Road Safety Commission
ICPC                           Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission
IGP                             Inspector General of Police
MoPA                         Ministry of Police Affairs
MOPOL                      Mobile Police
NAPTIP                      National Agency for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons         
NDC                           National Defence College
NDLEA                      National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
NIPSS                         National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies
NNPF                          Northern Nigeria Police Force
NPF                             Nigeria Police Force
NSCDC                      National Security and Civil Defence Corps
NOPRIN                     Network on Police Reform in Nigeria
PCB                            Police Public Complaints Bureau
PCRC                          Police Community Relations Committee
PSC                             Police Service Commission
SCID                           State Criminal Investigation Department
SNPF                          Southern Nigeria Police Force
SSS                             State Security Service
UN                              United Nations



Acknowledgements

In the course of its work, the CSO Panel received valuable support, assistance and contributions in the form of ideas, funding, suggestions, written memoranda, oral submissions, and solidarity from individuals, organisations and institutions too numerous to list.  We gratefully acknowledge these contributions, which were made in the hope that the Nigeria Police Force will be reformed to better serve all resident in Nigeria irrespective of social status, religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, age or gender.  Having completed this assignment, the challenge before civil society groups in Nigeria now, is to ensure that this report and its recommendations are adopted and implemented by the government.













Summary Of Findings And Recommendations

1.1.1    Introduction
Official debates about police reform in Nigeria and committees established by successive governments to facilitate such discussions and recommendations of measures for implementation have mostly been dominated by people with a security background who view such assignments as their exclusive preserve.  As a result, their reports have often focussed on increasing policing capacity in the areas of personnel strength, materials for work and welfare; as though once these are right, the NPF will be super effective and efficient.  While not belittling the significant difference a properly resourced NPF can make in addressing the safety and security challenges currently confronting Nigeria, experience from other jurisdictions has shown that it requires more than this for the police to win the confidence of the people and be effective in carrying out their functions.[1]  Community support and participation are critical to improving police performance, and if the people are not consulted and their priorities factored into the reform process, their support for reform programs cannot be guaranteed.

1.1.2        It was with this in mind, that when the Federal Government inaugurated another Committee on reform of the NPF in February 2012 and appeared to be following the same procedure as in the past, civil society groups working on police reform in Nigeria felt they should do more than send another round of memoranda.  They decided to set up a parallel but complementary Civil Society Panel on Police Reform in Nigeria (CSO Panel).  Mrs Ayo Obe chaired the six-person Panel whose other members were Mrs Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, Mr. Sampson Itodo, Dr. Abubakar Mu’azu, Ms Ayisha Osori, and Dr. Smart Otu.  Innocent Chukwuma provided technical advice; Chinedu Nwagu served as the Secretary and Okechukwu Nwanguma served as the CSO liaison officer.

1.1.3        In its work the CSO Panel paid more attention to salient issues that may not necessarily require a great deal of money before they can be addressed, but are often ignored in the work of government committees on Police reform.  However, the CSO Panel recognizes the impact of material deficiencies on the effectiveness of the NPF and aligns with reports of government committees on such issues.

1.2.1    Methodology
The Panel used a variety of complementary methodological approaches in carrying out its functions. These were: review of extant literature, which helped it to properly situate its work and enrich its understanding of the issues at play; call for memoranda to enable members of the public who wanted to contribute to work of the Panel to send written presentations; organisation of public hearings in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital which provided an opportunity for members of the public to make presentations in person; bilateral interaction with key actors in the field; and a validation workshop where the key findings of the CSO Panel were presented to civil society representatives.  The effective combination of these approaches enhanced the Panel’s appreciation of the issues involved in its work and placed it in a privileged position to offer the recommendations contained in this report.

Summary of Findings and Recommendations
1.3.1    Factors Affecting Effective Performance by the NPF
The factors affecting police performance that were identified by the panel include inadequate articulation of the NPF’s mission, legal framework, specialization of functions, performance appraisal system, duplication of policing agencies, weak oversight agencies and corruption.

1.3.2    Mission of the Police
The Panel found the mission statement of the NPF as provided in Section 4 of the Police Act inadequate in capturing the expectation of the new kind of police Nigeria requires in the context of its disheartening experience of police inefficiency and brutality and hope for a democratic society of security and liberty.  In proposing a new mission statement for the NPF the CSO Panel is of the view that focus should be on modelling a new police service that works in partnership with the communities it serves.

1.3.3    Recommendations
·           The National Assembly should amend Section 4 of the Police Act to incorporate language that emphasizes that the Nigeria Police is a service organisation that respects human rights, works in partnership with the community and is impartial before the law in carrying out its functions of ensuring the security of persons and property, detecting, investigating and activating the prosecution of offences.
·           The Nigeria Police Force should embark on a strategic planning exercise with a view to articulating operational vision and mission statements consistent with the values of a civil agency and the protection of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Nigeria in discharging its functions.

1.3.4    Constitutional and Statutory Framework
The CSO Panel found the constitutional and statutory framework under which the NPF operates to be a significant challenge to the effective performance of its functions: Sections 214-216 create the NPF, while the Police Act provides for its organisation, discipline, powers and duties.  The Panel identified two issues in the legal framework of the NPF: lack of operational autonomy, which has led to politicization and lack of professionalism in the NPF, and an opaque leadership appointment procedure, which can rob the NPF of the services of its most competent officers at leadership levels.

1.3.5    Recommendations
·         Amend Section 215(3) of the Constitution and sections 9(4, 5) and 10(1, 2) of the Police Act to restrict the role of the President or Minister of Government acting on his behalf to issuing only lawful policy directives, not operational directives, to the NPF. The amendment should state clearly and unambiguously that operational control of the NPF and its department/units rests with the IGP.
·         Sections 215(1) and 216(2) of the Constitution should be amended as part of the present constitutional reform process to: 
o     Provide for a competitive and transparent process to be followed in the appointment of an IGP if the position becomes vacant, including an open application process, screening of applicants, Senate hearing and confirmation of the most competent person for the job;
o     Specify relevant competences and qualifications that must be met by anybody vying for the position of IGP and other senior command positions in the NPF, including academic qualifications and relevant professional and management experience;
o     Guarantee security of tenure for the IGP with one term limit of five years;
o     Stipulate processes that should be followed for an IGP to be removed from office, including a public hearing by the Senate.

1.3.6    Structure and Organisation of NPF
The Panel found the NPF structured in a way that over-centralises its operations.  Even though the NPF has a five-tier command structure (Headquarter, Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands), too many decisions begin and end on the desk of the IGP.  Similarly, although the NPF has seven Deputy Inspectors-General (DIGs) who function as the heads of departments at headquarters and should lighten the load on the IGP, the Panel found that apart from adding to the unwieldy nature of NPF structure, the DIGs have little real work to do.  Furthermore, despite an outward show of unity, the current DIG structure does not help stability in the NPF, as all the DIGs see themselves as IGPs in waiting and spend their time plotting for a change in the leadership of the NPF, since the IGP has no security of tenure.

1.3.7    Recommendations
·         The NPF structure should be decentralized and powers and resources devolved to Zonal, State, Area and Divisional Commands to enable them effectively respond to the priority safety and security needs of their jurisdictions.
·         The seven DIG structure should be abolished, and the IGP should have just one DIG who should serve as his second in command.
·         The headquarter departments should be headed by AIGs in the same way as Zonal Commands.

1.3.8    Lack of Specialization
The CSO Panel found that lack of specialization has robbed the NPF of the capacity to develop its personnel to become experts in different fields of policing, a gap which impacts its ability to solve complex crimes.  With the exception of a few specialists such as medical doctors and veterinarians, the CSO Panel found that upon enlistment, all officers are made to carry out all duties, irrespective of their areas of specialization, and are moved around at will from one duty post and function to another, without prior training or preparation.  The Panel observed that the lack of career trajectory in the NPF has turned most police officers in Nigeria into ‘jacks-of-all-trades’ who in the end, are not able to master any.

1.3.9    Recommendations
·         The ‘general duty policy’ should be abolished. Every police officer should be given a time line of five years to specialize after recruitment, be a promotable officer or go home.
·         Diverse professionals such as criminologists, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, doctors, pathologists and others should be recruited as police officers and allowed to practice their professions within the police service, and be promotable in their areas of expertise as is done in services such as the military.

1.3.10  Duplication of Policing Agencies
The Panel found a government penchant for the creation of agencies (such as the EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, NAPTIP and NDLEA) that fragment and duplicate police functions, and are inimical to improving the effectiveness of NPF because they not only deprive the NPF of badly needed material resources, but also deplete its pool of human resources.  Some of these agencies, such as the EFCC, still draw their leadership and operational personnel from the NPF.

1.3.11  Recommendation
The government should establish an inter-agency committee for the harmonization of the functions of all agencies performing policing and internal security functions in Nigeria with a view to:
·         Determining those that should be merged with the NPF;
·         Delineating functions where merger is not a feasible option;
and more importantly;
·         Working out, from leadership to operational level, arrangements to coordinate activities that will ensure that resources are properly shared, and that inter-agency cooperation in planning and executing safety and security functions is enhanced.

1.3.12  Weak Oversight Agencies
The Panel found no justification for the existence of the Ministry of Police Affairs (MoPA) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) as separate bodies as presently structured, organized and managed.  The MoPA maintains a huge bureaucracy for the purpose of either duplicating functions already performed or statutorily assigned to the NPF or the Police Service Commission (PSC).  The PSC on its part has been dismissed as nothing more than “a dismal chronicle of rubber-stamping decisions taken by the police”.[2]  Participants at the public hearings also criticised the lack of response to (or even acknowledgement of) complaints about police misconduct sent to the PSC.  At the same time, concern was expressed about the unclear constitutional area in which not only agencies such as the EFCC, ICPC, FRSC, NAPTIP, NDLEA and NSCDC are operating, but the legal vacuum in which a variety of community-based security initiatives are operating, and their often shaky adherence to human rights and due process standards.

1.3.13  Recommendations
·         The Ministry of Police Affairs should be restructured and renamed Ministry of Public Safety and Security to coordinate the activities of government in the field of public security and discontinue the present practice of replicating the bureaucracies of NPF and PSC. It should also be charged with providing a regulatory framework for community initiatives on crime prevention and creating an incentive regime to ensure that they comply with the law and eschew human rights abuses in carrying out their functions in rural areas or inner city communities not often covered by police patrols.

·         The PSC should be strengthened and provided with adequate resources to establish its presence across the country, starting at the level of Nigeria’s geo-political zones, and expanding to states and local governments as funds and resources permit.

·         The PSC should establish a department responsible for investigation of public complaints against the police (particularly cases of corruption, rape, torture and extrajudicial killing) and discontinue sending such petitions back to the police for investigation.  

·         The process of appointing the chairperson and members of the PSC should be transparent and rigorous in order to ensure that only qualified persons are appointed to actualise its enormous potentials as a civilian oversight body on police in Nigeria.


1.3.14  Performance Appraisal System
The Panel found that the NPF does not take assessment of its officers’ performance seriously.  On paper, the appraisal system of the NPF looks impressive, as it covers critical issues such as discipline, knowledge of the job and environment, attitude to work and performance, relationship with colleagues and superiors and more importantly, relationship with members of the public.  However, the problem is in the application process, which is not prioritized, rigorously applied or transparent. In the words of a police officer, “APER (Annual Performance Evaluation Report) is there for the sake of being there. What the police do is eye service. Nobody actually looks at the APER.”

1.3.15  Recommendations
·         The IGP should set up a committee to review the performance appraisal system in the NPF with a view to proposing a new and functional system, which should then be implemented and stringently applied.  The committee should include independent experts in in the field of performance management.
·         A task-based system of appraisal which focuses on performance in given tasks, instead of the current blind filling of forms by superiors, should be adopted to create objective and transparent criteria for the assessment of police officers.
·         The APER template should be revised to provide for police officers being appraised to also score themselves on the issues on which their supervisors are appraising them.  The expected differential in scores will provide opportunity for the supervisors and subordinates to discuss the appraisal process and build confidence in it.

1.3.16  Ban on Police Unionism
Despite the widespread belief that it is illegal for police officers to form any kind of trade union or professional association, the Panel could not find any legislation that supports such a conclusion.  Rather, section 40 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of association and specifically provides that “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests”.  The Panel found the tendency of government to conflate the right to associate with the inevitability of strikes as not only restrictive, but also likely to guarantee a situation in which grievances are bottled up until they explode in a manner that is not only detrimental to effective performance of police duties but also may affect national security.


1.3.17  Recommendation
Having regard to the rights guaranteed by section 40 of the Constitution, the CSO Panel recommends that police officers should be encouraged and permitted to form a Police Association for the purpose of collective bargaining, but be barred from using the strike option in pressing their concerns or demands for better conditions of service.

1.3.18  Police Corruption
In spite of the efforts of the current IGP to deal with corruption in the NPF by dismantling road blocks and dismissing police officers caught in corrupt acts, the CSO Panel found that corruption is still the number one impediment to the effective performance of police functions in Nigeria and a cancer that has spread to every facet of the NPF.  The Panel recognised that corruption has spread throughout Nigerian society but rejected the suggestion that this in any way excuses or justifies corruption in the NPF.

1.3.19  Recommendations
The leadership of the NPF should:
·         Sustain the abolition of police roadblocks and checkpoints on the highways.
·         Create a functional and easy-to-use database of police officers in Nigeria to enhance personal performance monitoring and help expose erring officers to the public.
·         Resuscitate the police X-Squad in all police commands and formations across Nigeria, and provide a line budget for their work.
·         Work with civil society groups to introduce the use of new media technologies to map police corruption in Nigeria and deploy more officers from X-Squad to corruption hotspots as identified in the mapping using geographic positioning system (GPS) technology.

To see the full report please visit http://cleen.org/ or http://noprin.org/pub.html or  http://cleen.org/CSO%20Panel%20Final%20Report.pdf 

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