Bauchi, Adamawa senior police officers receive training on human rights

Bauchi, Adamawa senior police officers receive training on human rights

Story from Najib SANI, Bauchi

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) Society for Family Health (SFH) in collaboration with the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria (BACATMA) and Adamawa State Agency for the Control of AIDS have organised a five-day training for senior officers of the Nigeria police and National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on human rights and gender-based violence.

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According to the Deputy Managing Director of Society for Family Health, Dr Jennifer Anyanti, the training was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

She explained that the objective of the training which commenced on Monday at Yankari Games Reserve Bauchi is to educate the senior law enforcement officers on human rights issues and gender-based violence so that they could professionally handle the violations.

She added that the training is paramount because law enforcement agents are stakeholders in human rights protection, hence the need to train them so they will know how best to defend human rights and handle human rights violation cases professionally.

In his remarks, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Alkali Baba Usman, represented by the Commissioner of police Adamawa state, Aliyu Adamu Alhaji lauded the organisers for the training saying it would go a long way in enhancing the knowledge of his officers and professionalism among them.

He advised the participants to pay special attention to the lectures to be delivered at the workshop and promised that the police would be the number one human rights defenders.

A participant at the workshop and Deputy Commissioner of Police in Bauchi, Bauchi command, Mrs Rose Chollom said the police have reduced gender-based violence drastically in the state.

Also, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command Ahmed Wakili revealed that there were 149 cases of gender violence in the state last year where 257 suspected perpetrators were arrested.

He said with the intensive fight against the menace by the command, the number nosedived as only 53 cases were recorded this year in the state.

According to the PPRO, the command opened gender violence desks in every division with a view to tackling the problem.