Mr Paul Odama, Commissioner of Police in Kwara, has charged security agents across the country to be professional in their duties during the upcoming general elections.
He stated that this is to ensure free, fair, and credible elections.
Odama gave the task on Sunday in Ilorin at a five-day training for some of the state’s selected police officers, themed: “The Role of the Nigerian Police Force in Credible Election – Before, During and After”.
Odama said the training was organised mainly to further expose officers to the roles expected of them, which is to maintain peace and order before, during and after the general elections.
The commissioner of police, who applauded the efforts of the organisers of the training, further described the capacity building as timely.
He also called on the participants to see the training as an ample opportunity presenting itself to them on a platter of gold on how to be more professional in carrying out their duties as at when due.
In their remarks, the lead facilitators, Messrs Chinelo Ofoegbunam and Victor Augustine described the training as very crucial to the success of the 2023 general elections.
They added that as a critical stakeholder, the Nigerian Police, being one among the major security agencies in the country, needed to be exposed to how they could improve in carrying out their assignments in a more civil way.
They commended the participants for their cooperation to make the training more meaningful, participatory and engaging.
The other resource persons included Prof. Azubuike Onuora and Mrs Oluwabunmi Lucy Niyi-Gafar, both from the Department of Law Jurisprudence, University of Ilorin; Dr Isaac Aun, Department of Business Administration, and Dr Bakare Rafiu of the Political Science Department, also from the Unilorin.
They noted that the challenges of policing especially during an electioneering period like ours, was not peculiar to Nigeria alone, hence the need for relevant stakeholders to collaborate and ensure a violence free polls.
In their presentations, they posited that there must be police reform and that police officers should be motivated by the government.
To achieve the above, the speakers noted that all actors’ hands must be on deck, because no one can do it alone.
The resource persons said it was a joint project that required synergy and that electoral violence could be solved as a team with minimal resources.
They said police officers were expected to play their roles, including maintaining peace and order, promoting national cohesion, protecting lives and property, promotion of justice and respect for human right, among others.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training, which started on Wednesday, was organised by Footprint Consult and Capacity Building Limited in conjunction with the Police Trust Fund. (NAN)