Digital policing will go a long way in curbing violence during the 2019 general elections, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hashimu S. Argungu has said.
The police chief disclosed this while delivering a paper titled: “Policing election in Nigeria: Appraising the role and responsibilities of the Nigerian police in the 21st century elections,” on Thursday in Abuja during a workshop organized for senior police officers from the ranks of ACP and above.
The workshop was organized by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in collaboration with Bastion Chambers.
Argungu said understanding modern technology will place the police ahead of criminal elements.
The retired DIG said “all along, it is a fact that, internet electronic mail systems and the internet are also giving police access to unlimited information to help them perform their jobs better.
“At this hour of the 21st century, all police officers will have to undergo training in the recognition of offenses committed by computer and how electronic evidence can be obtained and preserved.
“With globalization, digitization, and computerization era, police work is likely to become more electronically based in everyday life.”
The former dean of Law, Bayero University, Kano, Prof. A.B Ahmed, said an election is said to be credible only when it is organized in an atmosphere of peace, devoid of rancor and personal acrimony, adding that it is only when the police performs their duties diligently, effectively and efficiently than the credibility and outcomes of elections will be accepted.
“The outcome of such an election must be acceptable to the majority of the electorates and also the international community.
“For elections to be credible, its process must be secured and sufficiently transparent. If elections are to be free and fair, laws designed to that end must not just exist, they must be operated and enforced.”
Speaking earlier, Barr. Muhammed K. Nakordi, the coordinator of the workshop who represents Bastion Chambers, said the workshop would acquaint the officers with the latest method of curbing electoral violence in the country.
He said the workshop was necessitated by the waves of violence before, during and after elections.
