Maureen Okpe
The government of the United Kingdom said it will send advisors to Nigeria to provide expertise and share knowledge on community policing towards tackling insecurity in the West African country.
Vicky Ford, UK Minister for Africa, disclosed this in an interview with AriseNews, as part of measures to curb terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
According to Ford, this will help the Nigerian Police roll out community policing especially in areas that have been devastated by conflict.
“What we know in UK and Nigeria is that to keep civilians safe, you need to have effective, accountable, transparent community policing. And that is part of the work that we would be doing through sending advisors to share experiences to help the Nigerian police forces adapt so that they will be able to respond to incidents in a more timely and more effective manner.”
“These are areas Nigerians have identified issues that they would like help with and we can then bring in that support and share experiences,” Ms Ford said.
“This is not the UK telling Nigeria how to do things but Nigeria identifying areas the UK can support them, the UK has a strategy across Africa to work with countries to form partnerships, to help create a free, safer, greener, more prosperous culture and we see Nigeria as a key partner in that,” she said.
The minister disclosed that officials are already working together on issues of terrorist threats and how to share the UK’s lessons on community policing to improve security across Nigeria.
Ford noted that “Nigeria is really important for its stability and also for the work they are doing for regional stability and security.
“Insecurity in Nigeria and West Africa also impacts security which is why we want to work with Nigeria as a trusted friend and partner,” she stated.
Commenting on the #EndSARS white paper issued by the Lagos State government, she stated that the white paper raised more questions than answers.
“The white paper raised lots of questions, it raised questions on the role of the federal police and that of the military and those are questions that the federal government needs to look at and address.
“It is really important that civilians have the right transparency to understand when things have gone wrong, what has gone wrong and that people can be held to account if there have been situations where the police or other forces have not acted in a way they should have. The UK is watching closely to see that this happens.”