In furtherance of its objective of promoting partnership between the police and the communities they serve, and ensuring that the police are answerable to community concerns, the CLEEN Foundation supported the Borno State Police Command in revitalizing and inaugurating its Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) office in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, March 10.

On hand to perform the inauguration which included the donation of basic office equipment such desktop computer, LaserJet printer, photocopying machine, fax machine, phone line, etc by CLEEN Foundation to the state PCB office, was the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Adamu Shettima Dibal.

Coming after the opening of similar PCB offices in four states of the Federation – Lagos, Rivers, Kano and Benue, the purpose of the donation, according to Ambassador Lamidi Maliki, chairman of CLEEN’s Board of Directors, is to assist the police in the state revive its PCB office and strengthen its internal disciplinary procedures in order to ensure that police officers in the state do not abuse their discretionary powers in their dealings with the citizens.

Other personalities that graced the occasion included the Commissioner of Police in Borno State, Mr. Basiru Azeez; The State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji A. Kam Salem; Alhaji Tela, Commissioner for Commerce; Hajia Hadiza, representative of the Chief Judge of Borno State; Alhaji Kanuri Daiboa, a traditional ruler, and Alhaji Zaiwa Dujuma.

However the inauguration was a follow-up to a two-day workshop on enhancing police-community partnership and accountability in the state, which was organised by the CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with the Borno State Police Command and the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), at the Lake Chad Hotel, from February 18 -19, 2004, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

In his keynote address to the workshop, the governor of Borno State, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff stated the commitment of his government to the citizens’ safety and security through better policing and pledged the support of his governments to the work of CLEEN Foundation.

Professor Abubakar Mu’azu of the University of Maiduguri, one of the resource persons, in his paper titled “Building Understanding and Partnership Between Police and Community: Problems and Prospects,” highlighted the obstacles to better police-community relations as well as emphasized the imperative for a sustained collaborative partnership between the police and civil society in fighting crime and ensuring public safety and security.
Two other papers presented by Baba Garba (ASP) and Dr. A.M. Sa’ad of the department of sociology, University of Maiduguri respectively however emphasized the need for an increased understanding of these mechanism among members of the society. The papers also identified notable drawbacks in the composition of the PCRCs and demanded that they be made more inclusive of all sectors of the community so as to be broadly representative of the entire societal inputs.

However, both papers noted that the PCRC’s strident efforts to gain wide acceptance through its motto: “Police is your friend” were being undermined by the activities of a minority of police personnel who, as it were, were guilty of violations of human rights.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Azubuike Okonkwo in his paper explored different methods of building police-public confidence that could have a positive impact on crime reduction. The PCB he said exists to ensure that public complaints against police officers are investigated and action to be taken against those found guilty of misconduct. Among the major problems inhibiting the work of the PCBs, he listed absence of institutional capacity, and low confidence on the preparedness to discipline its erring officer by the populace. He called for capacity building for the personnel of the PCBs among as well as awareness programmes for members of the public about the existence of the PCBs and the opportunities they present for redress of public complaints against police misconduct and violation of human rights.

The workshop’s second day witnessed the training of the participants in conflict resolution techniques, conflict management, crisis mapping and self-control. The conflict management training was facilitated by two master trainers from the Conflict Resolution Stakeholders Network (CRESNET), Mr. Emeka Eze and Miss Toyin Falade. The training emphasized skills and knowledge vital in dealing with mutual suspicion, frustration of the community at having nowhere to channel their dissatisfaction with police, and the potentiality of small incidents sparking off violent conflict. Certificate of participation were presented by the Borno State Commissioner of Police.