Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have flagged off a workshop for the training of its officers and men on election security management. It was organised by the police in collaboration with experts and other security agencies in Borno State.
This was part of its preparations for credible, transparent, free and fair elections in the 2023 general election. LEADERSHIP recalls that inspector-general of police (IGP) Usman Alkali, during the nationwide maiden workshop held in Abuja, said, “The training is targeted and specialised efforts to enhance the capacity of police officers to meet the force’s obligations in the national, inter-agency quest of ensuring a fair, peaceful, secure, and credible electoral process next year.”
The one – day workshop held in Maiduguri in collaboration with Solar Security and Consult Company Limited has the theme: “The 2023 General Elections- Enhancing National Security Capacity for a Secure and Credible Electoral Process in Nigeria.”
Addressing officers of the command and other participants including personnel of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), civil society organisations (CSOs), the media among others, the training consultant and a former IGP, Solomon Arase, enjoined the participants to interact, exchange ideas and gain knowledge so that they will take it down to other security personnel in their formations.
Arase named five key outcomes expected after the training as: Robust inter-agency collaboration towards effective security governance during the 2023 general elections and in other future joint electoral security operations; Enhanced knowledge of security agents on election security management, drawing on global best practices; Development of an ‘Election Security Management Protocol’ that will act as the standard security management template for future elections at all levels in Nigeria.
“It is anticipated that the document will act as a credible reference document for all security agencies and other strategic stakeholders within the electoral system in Nigeria; Appreciation of peculiar election security threats and specific approaches towards managing them at various stages of the electoral process and Knowledge of current pattern and trend of crimes and internal security threats, and pathways to mitigating them and stabilizing the security order ahead of the 2023 General Elections.
“The training forms part of the IGP’s reform and upgrades agenda to strengthen and build the capacity of the Police, particularly as the country heads into an important election year during which incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari will hand over power to a newly-elected leader following his completion of the constitutionally-permitted eight-year term,” he said.
Declaring the workshop open, Borno State governor Babagana Umara Zulum who was represented by the permanent secretary and solicitor-general, Ministry of Justice, Isa Izge, thanked Baba for the initiative, which he said would ensure peaceful, free and fair elections in Nigeria in 2023 and beyond.
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