Human rights abuses drop under Abubakar – Mba

The Nigeria Police said on Tuesday that abuses of human rights had dropped significantly under the present Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.
The Force Public Relation Officer, CSP Frank Mba, said this when he visited the Headquarters of the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
Mba said: “From our records, there is a very significant drop in human rights abuses within the force.
“As a matter of fact, the current Inspector-General of Police is committed to: “Building a people-friendly police force; a police force that will respect the fundamental rights of its citizens; a police force that will uphold the civil liberty of the citizens; a police force that will be well trained, well-equipped and well-motivated to render helping hands to the aged, the young and the weak and we are working the talk.
“Within his short term in office, the police syllabus has been reviewed.
“At present, we have developed a new curriculum for teaching human rights in our police training schools and colleges.”
Mba said that the new curriculum was developed in collaboration with the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria and other international partners.
He said that human rights had become a core course in police training schools and a compulsory course for those embarking on promotion exercise.
Mba said that the Nigeria Police had set up a human rights desk in all the police stations across the country for handling people’s complaints about violation of their rights.
He added that the public should not hesitate to lodge their genuine complaints against erring police officers.
According to Mba, for the first time in history, the police force has a code of conduct for officers.
He added: “There is a new wave of accountability sweeping through the force and this new wave of accountability gives way to an atmosphere of openness.
“There has been increase in awareness because this is a democratic era when the media are operating at full capacity, the social media are also revolutionising the way cases are reported.
“What you see is increase in reportage and increase in reportage does not mean there is increase in human rights abuses.
“It simply means that Nigerians are becoming more open and more liberal.”