Amnesty International Nigeria in conjunction with Partners West Africa-Nigeria (PWAN) with the support of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) held a photo exhibition of incidents of police brutality across Nigeria.
Participants at the exhibition held in Abuja, expressed dismay over continuous happening of police brutality in Nigeria despite claims of making reforms to make the police human rights compliant.
Some reiterated the need for the authorities to improve the working condition of the police, including pay and training.
In her address, Director, Amnesty International Nigeria with support of OSIWA is implementing a project titled “safer policing initiative: seen through my eyes – the Long term impact of violent policing.
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Ojigho further said the project aims to create a human rights-based policing culture in Nigeria with a zero-tolerance attitude to unlawful police activities, particularly the excessive use of force. The project is being imply a consortium known as the “Fairer Force Alliance” which is a network of 10 CSOs including Amnesty International Nigeria.
The Co-ordinator of the project, Bashiru Olasupo, noted that the programme is moving around Nigeria to ensure that people at the grassroots are sensitized on human rights in relation to policing.
He added that the responsibility of making that the police have all the training and needs to perform their duties falls squarely on the shoulders of the government of Nigeria.
The exhibition was attended by representative of the inspector general of police other security agencies, journalists, civil society organizations and the general public.