A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Equal Access International, on Tuesday began a four-day capacity building workshop on community policing, organized for security personnel, community leaders, youth and women groups in Kaduna. The training tagged, “Securing Nigeria communities”, was organized in collaboration with CLEEN Foundation.
Gad Peter-Shamaki, Deputy Country Director of the organization, said that the training was aimed at building synergy and cooperation between security agencies and communities in order to enhance peaceful coexistence.
“We are working currently in four states, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Kano, we intend to increase the participation of women and youth in peace and security. Also, to increase coordination, collaboration among security agencies especially on rights based approach on community policing”
“Our security agencies do not have all the time and resources to solve insecurity issues, therefore, every Nigerian must work with them to support the security process” he said.
He explained that participants would be trained on early response, strategic communication, conflict analysis and planning within communities, in order to achieve peace and reduce pressure on security operatives.
Peter-Shamaki added that a community accountability forum would be formed at the end of the training, where traditional and youth leaders would continue to discuss issues related to security and how to address it.
The Programme Officer, CLEEN foundation, Ebere Mbaegbu, said that the programme would sensitize security operatives and community members on how to work together to prevent and manage conflicts in their various communities.
He added that the training would address the issue of mistrust between community members and the police, especially on the wrong perception that the police lacked the capacity to address some emergencies.
“This will create an opportunity for police to know and understand their host community and how to help them better” he said