Police pay N1bn to human rights abuse victims

The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, on Tuesday said that the Nigeria Police Force has paid over N1bn to Nigerians whose rights were trampled upon by officers in the last three years.

According to him, Force Order 237 on the use of force by the police has come under increasing local and international criticisms. He said these criticisms have formed the basis of court cases against the NPF.

The IGP who said officers must be adequately trained, briefed and held accountable for their decision on the use of force, stressed that his office, in collaboration with international stakeholders, has commenced the move to realign the order in line with global trends.
Arase stated these in Abuja during the opening ceremony of a three-day training workshop organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with the theme, “The challenge of policing in an emerging democracy: Entrenching human rights-based approaches to use force and firearms by Nigeria police officers.”

He said, “The contents of that Force Order has been construed as both controversial and the progenitor of human rights abuses by the NPF. It is also not in question that there is a virtual policy vacuum in respect of how and when firearms may be deployed and the circumstances governing the use of force by officers of the NPF.

“And in the past three years, the Police Force has virtually paid out close to over N1bn in garnishees of our account for infringement or infraction of human rights of Nigerians. This is a democratic government and we expect that our policing should take the details of democracy. I just believe that funds that were deployed on garnishee orders should be rechanneled into the welfare of police officers.”

Arase said no person deserves to lose his life as a result of the absence of a clear policy guideline on the graduated use of force policy in the NPF.

Consequent, the IGP said it was necessary to ensure that officers were strictly held accountable on how they decide to deploy firearms.

“Therefore, our officers must be adequately trained, briefed and held accountable for their decision to use force. The era of impunity has passed beyond the ken of recall. We must do our best to modernise NPF’s tactical operational strategies to commensurate levels with international best practice”, he stated.

The IGP, who said that 68 police officers are undergoing the training programmes, added that the protection of human life remained the cardinal duty of the NPF, saying, “… in doing so, special attention must be given to how the NPF personnel use their firearms with potential for deadly consequences.”

Also speaking, the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer of UNODC, Simone Heri, described the training exercise as a policy workshop that would help to improve the Nigeria police image regarding respect for human rights in the use of force and firearms.