Stakeholders in the policing and security sector on Monday, June 10 came to the ancient city of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, for a two-day national retreat to brainstorm on issues, particularly civilian oversight.
Venue for the retreat is the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), while the theme is: “Civilian oversight in Nigeria.”
Thenewsbearer learnt that it was facilitated by the Police Service Commission, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Expected at the retreat are the leadership of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Federation, the Attorney General of the Federation, National Security Adviser, officials from the Ministry of Police Affairs, Nigeria Police Force and the National Human Rights Commission.
Also, the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annet Gunther; Nigeria Union of Journalists and notable Civil Society Organisations would be at the retreat..
According to the PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement, the two day programne would be declared open on Tuesday, June 11, by the governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, and would feature eight sessions.
The first session will examine policing and oversight, practices and challenges with a keynote paper by Prof. Edoba Bright Omoregie, a senior Advocate of Nigeria; with Babatunde Dada, Director Legal Services, Police Service Commission; Hon Abubakar Makki Yalleman, Chairman House Committee on Police and Mrs Chigozirim Okoro of CLEEN Foundation as lead discussants.
The second session will carry out an overview of the Police Act 2020 with Kemi Okenyodo, Executive Director, Partners West Africa/Nigeria and senior Gender Advisor UNDP leading the discussion. The session will do (i) analysis of key changes (ii)governance of the security sector examining and maximising the powers, roles of the National Assembly.
Session Three will continue with the overview of the Police Act with Senator (Rev) Amos Yohanna representing the Chairman, Senate Committe on Police contributing during the analysis of the responsibilities of the Police Service Commission, Ministry of Police Affairs and its implications for police practice.
Overview of the same Act will continue in session Four with Mrs Anuli Okoli, Director Department of Police Investigation, PSC, looking at the responsibilities of the National Human Rights Commission, the Chief Justice of the Federation and the Attorney General of the Federation and its implications for Police practice.
The imperatives of National, State and Local Policing plans will dominate the discussions during the fifth session, with Napoleon Enayaba Representative of the UNDP in Nigeria, x-raying the importance of strategic planning, coordination and coherence among the oversight bodies.
Session six will examine civilian oversight, the role of the Media and Civil Society, with Prof. Olu Ogunsakin moderating discussions on implementations, challenges and solutions.
Coordination, collaboration and Innovation would be looked into in the seventh session with Nathaniel Danyibo as lead discussant.
The Director, Department of Police Promotions, Police Service Commission, Brighten Saagwe, is expected to lead the discussion on action planning for continuous improvement under the Session.
Session eight will examine police detention, conditions and judicial accountability and the discussions will be led by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Frank Mba.
There will also be a presentation on Human Rights and Detention conditions and Judicial acceptability .
The Convener of the Retreat and Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase CFR, who is also a retired Inspector General of Police, in arrival in Ibadan on Monday said that the programme will bring all the stakeholders in the Policing sector to brainstorm on the best possible ways to manage policing and oversight in Nigeria for better results.
He promised that the outcome will obviously turn around and improve the relationships in the chain of oversight bodies in the country and also form a ground work for operationalization of a National Policing Plan.
