The Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative, on Thursday held a media town hall meeting to “unpack the critical provisions of the Police Act 2020 and its innovations, and to explore the role of the media in fostering responsible and rights-based reporting on sensitive issues like arrests, stop-and-search, and profiling.
The group also known as Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), organised the gathering to educate the public, specifically media organizations about the Police Act and its impact on police-citizen interactions, and media reporting.
“This is an important initiative to ensure that both the public and the media understand their rights and responsibilities under the new law and the expected conduct of police officers”, Kemi Okenyodo, the Executive Director of the group said in her opening speech at the meeting held in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
“This is an essential step to strengthening trust, transparency, and accountability between law enforcement and the community”, she added.
A facilitator at the function, Mr. Obiorah Nwosu said the new act, governed by fundamental principles of transparency, accountability, fairness and protection of human rights, will bring lots of insights to Nigerians.
He also said this is an opportunity to have a chat with media organisations and professional bodies to transmit information of the new Act to Nigerians, so they would know that before being arrested, there must be a warrant, unless if a crime is committed in the presence of an officer.
“The (Act) states the functions and powers of the police. The Police have the power but, absolute powers. There are guiding rules and regulations governing the work of the police, Nwosu who works with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said.
“A lot of Nigerians do not know about the new act and its contents, when and how to arrest, the steps in arresting and how to carry out investigations.
“There’s a specific time to issue summon – between 06 am – 06 pm and can also be given on weekend basis and public holidays. These contents are what we are here to give to Nigerians today”, he concluded.
The Nigerian Police Act was signed on the 16th of September, 2020 by the previous adminstration of Ex President, Muhammadu Buhari.
PWAN with support from the UK Integrated Security Fund of the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) is implementing the project titled “Enhancing Police Governance: Deepening Understanding of the Police Act 2020 and Regulations Across Nigeria specifically in Kano, Plateau, Borno, Edo, Lagos, Enugu states, and the FCT. The project seeks to address critical gaps in the understanding and application of the Police Act 2020 and accompanying regulations within the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).