Police must treat suspects with civility –Niger CP

From AKIN ALOFETEKUN, Minna
Commissioner of Police in Niger State, Mrs Desire Nsirim has urged policemen in the country to desist  from treating suspects in a manner that is below the standard obtained in advanced nations of the world.
She said gone were the days, when the police treated suspects in uncivilised manner.
According to her, under the new reform for repositioning the Nigeria Police, suspects must be handled with civility even while undergoing interrogation.
The police boss, who was represented by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Paikoro Police Station in Minna,  made this known  at a synergy meeting between the police and members of the state vigilance group organised at the instance of ‘Justice for All’ project of the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) held at the station.
“Gone are the days when suspects will be treated in an uncivilized manner. All suspects will be treated with civility; therefore, with the establishment of Justice for All, the uncivilised manner in which police behave towards suspects, is gone forever,” she said.

In her address, lead consultant to Justice for All, a Voluntary Policing Sector (VPS) in Nigeria, Mrs Josephine Effah Chukwuma, emphasised the need  for a close working relationship between the police and the VPS by recognising the important role of voluntary policing service group in preventing and detecting crime in the society.
“The project is set out to improve service delivery, accountability and management of voluntary policing service.
“The trained VPS executives and operatives are  in the model police station of Paiko road police station in Chanachaga Local Government Area of the state and two replication sites at Chanchaga and Bosso  police divisions, both in Bosso Local Government Area.”
Chukwuma said that a total of about 160 vigilante corps officials had been trained in the last  two months on human rights, conflict management, basic policing skills and organisational management.
“We have committed community policing officers who are willing and ready to partner with neighbourhood to ensure their respective communities are safe and secure”