The Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil has made a case for introduction of more core policing courses into its curriculum with a view to addressing the intractable cases of human rights abuse by the men and officers of the force.
The commandant of the academy, AIG Ibrahim Zanna, disclosed this on Tuesday, in a remark during the matriculation of the 7th regular course cadets.
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He said the recent #EndSARS protest had posed serious challenges that require scientific research that will advance policing through recruitment, training and capacity development of officers.
He said doing so will help to promote strong engagement and partnership with communities for optimal service delivery.
He said: “I actually advocated for core policing courses that have to do with human rights and professionalism so that by the time these cadets go to the field, they have respect for the human person, they have respect for human rights, they will not go about doing unwholesome acts just like the allegations being made by members of the public against the SARS.”
He identified the new courses being proposed to include; Security and safety studies, Forensics in Accounting, Languages and Law, Strategic studies, Drugs and Narcotics science and Physical and Health administration.
Others are; Police administration studies, security and disaster management as well as community policing and human rights studies.
While expressing confidence that the courses will help in producing professional police officers, the Commandant disclosed that efforts were ongoing to secure legal backing, through the Police Academy Bill, for full recognition of the degrees being awarded by the institution.
To instill discipline in the cadets, Zanna said the academy would introduce drug and pregnancy tests to be conducted on regular bases so as to ensure that only those fit physically and morally go through the rigour of training.
“Unfortunately, we had an incident of pregnancy where a cadet has been dismissed and we don’t want a repeat of that.
“By the time the cadets go on holiday when they are back, we subject them to this tests to ensure they are fit and proper to continue with their academic programmes.
“Drug test, that is the bane of the Nigerian youth.
“You know drug addiction and drug abuse is very common among youth.
“Even the recent protest and the looting and others degenerated because of drug abuse.
“We want to make sure that our cadets are not involved in this kind of unwholesome acts.
“At intervals, we subject them to those tests, where we identify those who are on drugs, we show them the way out,” he emphasised.
