Experts Identify Obstacle To Police Reform
There is a fresh push to reposition the Nigeria Police Force. Civil society organisations in a dialogue in Abuja say reform in the force has suffered stalled implementation and unrealised promises.
They are now pushing for the gazzetting of a revised police regulation as the answer to an accountable police force.
At the civil society dialogue in Abuja, participants expressed concern that the Nigeria police still operated under very outdated regulations enacted in 1968.
The regulations have no provision for human rights, gender equality, or the philosophy of community policing.
From discriminatory rules against female officers to silence on community policing, experts at the dialogue provided evidence that the outdated regulations clash with the very spirit of the 2020 Police Act.
The delay in gazzetting a new police regulation, they say, is not from lack of review. Stakeholders, including the Police Service Commission, the Ministry of Police Affairs, civil society, and even the police themselves, have all contributed to a revised draft. Yet, progress remains stalled, with fingers pointed at the police management cadre, which inexplicably is withholding a feedback.
Civil society leaders insist that gazetting the revised Police Regulations is not just a bureaucratic exercise, but a matter of public trust. From ending gender bias in the force to embedding human rights and accountability, the regulations could bridge the widening trust gap between police and citizens.
Until the revised Police Regulations are finalised, gazetted, and enforced, reforms in the police force will remain a promise not kept.
