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A town hall meeting organised by the Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative or Partners West Africa Nigeria brings newsmen together to brainstorm on the Police Act 2020 and other human rights issues.

NKRUMAH BANKONG-OBI/Abuja

If law enforcement agents must be held accountable, and for Nigeria to achieve effective policing targets, then journalists must be conversant with laws governing policing in the country. A huge part of these rules are enshrined in the 1999 constitution as amended and the Police Act 2020. It was in a bid to equip reporters with the requisite knowledge to ensure accountability that the Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative brought together, reporters from the Northcentral states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Ijeoma Igwe, Programme Officer of Rule of Law Initiative, in an invitation message, said the organisation strives to provide the requisite knowledge and other tools to enable reporters to become better at holding law enforcement agencies, especially the police, accountable for their actions. “The project aims to enhance the understanding and implementation of the Police Act 2020 and its associated regulations among the Nigerian Police Management Team and broader public, thereby fostering more informed, effective, community members,” she said of the programme which helped on November 21st.

Divided into lectures, panel discussions and general participation, the meeting provided insights for newsmen to understand the basic provisions of the Act and the need to observe how it is obeyed or not in journalistic reporting. The lead speaker, Obiora Nwosu, who addressed the participants on the topic What’s New: Presentation of the Police Act 2020/Regulation, traced the essence of the Act from understanding human rights, the passage of the Act which was done by the National Assembly on 22 July 2020 and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari on 16 September 2020. the sole essence of the law, he explained is to promote accountability. He listed some salient points in the legislation, including the prohibition of torture, noting that “Under no circumstances should anyone be tortured. And if the police want to search, there are processes to follow. He noted that the law envisages “An effective prevention of crimes without threatening our liberties.”

The presenter also looked at the inadequacies of the past law which necessitated a new one. He pointed out that the defunct law governing policing in Nigeria lacked sufficient input on the mission of the police. It also gave little explanation as to the functions of the police. He also observed that the old law had no provision for the tenure of the Inspector general of police, hence leaving the tenure of the IGP at the discretion of the appointing authority. Nwosu led the participants to understand the new law provides for a four-year term for the IGP, provides for the submission of an annual policing plan, importantly, mandates the IGP to ensure that detainees in police custody, have access to legal help, promote efficiency, police must not earn wages less than any other security agency, police council to meet twice yearly, no person should be arrested instead of another and that a person must never be arrested for a civil offence.

He also elucidated the functions of the police, the convergence of the constitution and the Police Act 2020, issues of searching a suspect, arrest accessibility to legal advocates, and key police personnel chain in dealing with suspects. Thereafter, he turned to aspects that concern the media with the Police Act. He admonished journalists to embark on investigative reporting to uncover compliance or lack of it of the Act. He said reporters can enhancer observance of the Act by creating awareness of its provisions, facilitating dialogue, monitoring implementation as well as providing advocacy and a voice for those on the margins of society.

The panel discussion which was anchored by Diego Okenyendo, CEO of Isu Media Limited, comprised three practising journalists from the region. They shared experiences covering their respective states. Onah Iduh of National Record, Justina Asishana, Niger State Correspondent of The Nation newspaper. They shed light on what they have done in their respective areas to exemplify the mainstreaming of the Police Act 2020