By Amos Aar
IT WAS a provocative but equally engaging and educative forum last Thursday in Abuja when The Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative, also known as Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), brought together media practitioners, activists, lawyers and CSOs in a one-day media townhall meeting to discuss the Nigeria Police Act 2020.
Essentially, the townhall meeting, held at the Grand Pela Hotel & Suites, Abuja, sought to provoke profound media understanding and citizens’ knowledge of the contents of the Police Act 2020 and their application by police personnel. It was basically all about human rights, how these rights are seen, envisaged and guaranteed by the Police Act vis-à-vis its application by police personnel.
The frank tone of the discourse was set right from the onset by PWAN’s Executive Director, Mrs Kemi Okenyodo, when, in her welcome address, she noted that there exists discordance in the understanding and the application of the Police Act. According to her, the media townhall meeting methodology was meant to deepen understanding and the application of the Act among stakeholders, particularly the media.
“We are implementing a six-month project, which is rounding up in December, titled ‘Enhancing Police Governance, Deepening Understanding of the Police Act and the Regulations’ across Nigeria. And it’s supposed to be in the six geopolitical zones,” Okenyodo said as she acknowledged the role of the media in achieving the objective.
“We felt that by virtue of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other legal frameworks such as the Freedom of Information Act, the media plays a crucial role in the accountability and transparency ecosystem.
“First, you are involved in public awareness, you are involved in facilitating dialogues because some of you have phone-in programs. You have programs where you bring people to talk about issues. Whether some of us are aware or not, you are also involved in monitoring and implementation of laws, of policies and you are key stakeholders in advocacy.
“So, we felt that with this kind of important initiative, getting people to know about the Police Act 2020, it is important that we have you with us. So that when we have you with us, you would also help throw light to members of the public and some other colleagues within the sector. The meeting, we feel, is essential for us to strengthen trust, transparency, accountability, also with the law enforcement community,” Okenyodo said.
Okenyodo pledged that the conversation is designed to unpack critical provisions of the Police Act and the core innovations the act has brought about in relation to media and public relations. According to her, the Police Act not only places much emphasis on transparency and accountability, it also encourages engagement with media for a fluid dissemination of information on police activities.
Okenyodo stated: “During this town hall meeting, we would unpack critical provisions of the Police Act 2020 and some of the innovations it’s brought about, particularly as it relates to the media. So, for example, if you get a copy of the Police Act, you’ll find that transparency and accountability is at the heart of the Police Act 2020. So, which means that the media needs to be seen, to be engaging, to disseminate information about police activities, their operations and their policies.
“Public relations is also one of the key issues at the heart of the Police Act 2020. The 2020 Police Act also limits information for disclosure. So, it states that certain information, as much as we’re talking community engagement, it also outlines certain restrictions regarding disclosure of sensitive information that could compromise ongoing investigations or public safety.
“There are provisions in the Act to guide how media personnel can access information and the police aiming to ensure that reporters can perform their duties without hindrances, while also clarifying the bounds of appropriate interactions. You and I know that within the space where we’re working also, that there have been issues with exercising the freedom of the press, that press freedom is also shrinking.
“We would explore the role of the media in fostering responsible and rights-based reporting on sensitive issues like arrest, stop and search, and profiling, discuss actionable strategies to bridge gaps in understanding and implementation of the Police Act across the country.”
Okenyodo’s thematic framing of the meeting was amplified by Mr Cliff Gai, program lead for UK Integrated Security Fund, in a brief goodwill message, in which he stressed the relevance of the work around reforming the police.
According to Gai, there is no better partner to be engaged in the process of the reform than the media because they are the ones who set the agenda, who decide what is relevant, and who decide what should be at the forefront of national discourse.
Lamenting that though the Police Act was signed into law since 2020, and that the kind of progress envisaged in operationalising the Act has unfortunately not emerged, hence, the need to lay a foundation for popularising the Act and more widely accessible and understood by members of the public so that they also know what to expect as the Nigerian Police Force undergoes the reform process.
“I hope that as you leave this forum today, you will see and hold it as a duty to publicise, to make known, to generate the requisite awareness for the Police Act and the regulations that are being drawn out of that, so that citizens out there will know that there is a journey going on and it will set a platform for accountability. Because if people don’t know what the transformation is about, they won’t know what to expect from the police, and they won’t know how to hold the police accountable,” Gai said.
Okenyodo’s promise of unpacking the Police Act was real. In doing so, it became clear that not many of the participants were conversant with the provisions of the Act beyond the assumed traditional roles of the police even if they were informed on issues of fundamental human rights and the much more common narratives on the nuances around citizens’ rights violations or abuses by police personnel.
The eloquence and simplicity with which the resource person, Mr Obiora Nwosu, rendered his presentation on the Police Act 2020, made it not just inevitably comprehensible but very familiar. This is more so in his interactive methodology by engaging participants in conceptual understanding of key terms.
For instance, he began by asking for the definition of human rights and proceeded to highlight the work of the police, its framework – what they should do, their roles, the regulation itself, the guiding principle that stipulates or itemises how they will carry out their functions, etc.
The discussion highlighted the challenges journalists face in obtaining timely and accurate information from the police, a situation that often stifles in-depth reporting on criminal cases and the proper application of the Police Act.
In their discussion, the panellists emphasised that while access to clear and detailed information from the police is crucial for journalists, attempts at digging beyond the official information is also necessary so as to fulfil their role as watchdogs and to present balanced, fact-based stories to the public.
For Mr Iduh Onah, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of National Record, the lack of basic details in some reports, especially report of arrests often pose challenge to editors. “If you look at the trends in the reportage of crime and police activities generally, for those of us who are gatekeepers, we have this challenge…; I mean those of us on the desk who ask and give directives on certain news that are submitted; If you are on the desk, you will be surprised sometimes when you get news and the relevant questions are not asked or answered,” Onah said.
Dwelling on the gap in police-media relations, Mrs. Justina Asishana, Niger State Correspondent of The Nation Newspaper, explained that much of the information journalists receive come through official statements or press events like suspect parades. She stressed the frequent lack of clarity in these interactions, noting that some suspects are paraded without fully understanding the charges against them. This, she argued, undermines the ability of journalists to provide context and verify facts, resulting in coverage that lacks depth and nuance of human rights.
“In Niger State, for example, we often struggle to obtain more than the bare minimum details from police sources,” Asishana said. “This limitation impacts our ability to pursue investigative reporting on cases such as rape or wrongful arrests. A stronger understanding of the Police Act would help the public engage more confidently and demand accountability in line with the law.”
Comrade Idris Miliki, founder of Concerns for Human Rights/Conflict Resolution, urged journalists to deepen their knowledge and take greater initiative in follow-up investigations. According to Miliki, simply reporting breaking news is not enough; journalists must go beyond initial stories to track developments, question outcomes, and ensure accountability. “Once the police parade suspects, that’s often where the coverage ends,” Miliki observed, adding: “We need more journalists willing to pursue a story’s evolution to its conclusion. Without this follow-through, stories lack the completeness that informs public understanding and advocacy.”
Concluding the session, panel moderator Mr. Diego Okenyodo, underscored the potential of the Police Act 2020 to transform police-community relations if it is both widely understood and consistently implemented. He called on the media to play a central role in educating the public and advocating for enforcement of the Act’s human rights protection. “The media can bridge the knowledge gap between citizens and the police,” By ensuring that communities understand their rights under this Act, we lay the groundwork for a more transparent, fair, and accountable policing system,” Okenyodo said.
The townhall closed with a shared commitment among all attendees: journalists, activists, and legal professionals alike, to foster a more informed and engaged public that can hold the Nigerian Police Force accountable to the reforms promised by the Police Act 2020. This collaboration, attendees agreed, is essential to building trust, advancing human rights, and shaping a more just and effective police system in Nigeria.
