The Nigeria Police, in collaboration with the German government, have started intensive training for officers and men of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) on human rights at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris, during the opening ceremony of the two-week programme, said it was meant to enhance professionalism and ensure that personnel of FSARS act in line with international best practices.
The Presidency had recently ordered the reformation of the unit, which led to the IGP’s directive for a centralized FSARS, with a commissioner of police overseeing its affairs, that would restrict their duties strictly to robbery and kidnapping cases.
The training, which would focus on how not to violate human rights as FSARS personnel deliver on their new mandate, will be facilitated by experts from the German Foreign Office.
Speaking at the inauguration of the training yesterday, Idris said the training was a holistic approach to enhance the performance of 135 personnel, comprising commanders, team leaders and foot soldiers of FSARS, which is in accordance with the recent presidential directive.
The IGP, who was represented by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in charge of training, Emmanuel Inyang, said, “Let me remind you that SARS was initially established to take charge of specific functions pertaining to crime prevention and control as well as to secure life and property, but their direct contact with members of the public has brought conflict, friction and perceived human rights abuses and the inherent complaints arising from the performance of their duties.”
The GIZ Deputy Project Manager, Police Project Africa in Nigeria, Hartmut Zander, said the German government had to step in to assist in the training of FSARS personnel due to some cases of the violation of human rights in the discharge of their duties.
In his remarks, Zander said, “Around 135 police officers, among them officers from over 36 states, are going to be trained by internal police trainers as well as external resource persons in relevant human rights principles, which apply to different policy interventions.”
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