The CLEEN Foundation on
the 18th day of June 2019 at National Human Rights Commission in Abuja-Nigeria
capital city, launched Civil-Military Relations (CMR) Phase IV. The project
supported by National Endowment for Democracy (NED) seeks to strengthen
civil-military relations in Nigeria to improve accountability, security and
human rights.

CLEEN Foundation commenced
Civil-Military Relations project in 2015 and the project has contributed to
helping the military in the implementation of some notable reforms,
particularly in the areas of improving its interactions with the public. Some
of the reforms are the establishment of a Civil-Military Relations Desk by the
Federal Ministry of Defence, and the Army’s establishment of a Human Rights
Desk that is devolved down to the divisional level, and its corresponding human
rights call center.

To achieve the objective
for the Phase IV project, CLEEN put in place Network on Security Sector Reform
in Nigeria (NetSSRIN), a consortium of 12 Civil Society Organisation CSOs,
selected across the six geopolitical zones. The 12 members will work in
collaboration with the Nigeria Army Human Rights desk to monitor and document
human rights abuse committed by the Nigerian military and other security
personnel. Besides NetSSRI, National Human Right Commission (NHRC) is a core
implementing partner for the CMR phase IV.

We understand that the
dichotomy between the military and the civil populace has always existed,
however, during the military rule; the civil-military divide grew to an
alarming level. Therefore, to create a society where the military and the
civilian will live together, there is the need to improve civil-military
relations by reconnecting communities with the military and emphasizing the
importance of civil-military relations, which is why the CMR phase IV project
is most crucial.

CLEEN partnership with the
National Human Rights Commission is recognition of the Commission’s role in consolidating
and protecting human rights and public freedoms in Nigeria, which is one of the
core objectives of the Civil-Military Relations Project.