For Immediate Release
Thursday 17th September 2020
Abuja – Nigeria
11:00 am
CLEEN Foundation donates
Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and COVID-19 Police Guidelines to Edo
State Command of the Nigeria Police Force; Calls for Peaceful Governorship
Election
The CLEEN Foundation in
collaboration with COVID-19 Nigeria Security Support Group (CNSSG) and with support
from the British High Commission launched a policing pandemic project to
provide real-time public safety and security information to Nigerians on the 1st
of April 2020. Observers from this network were trained and deployed to report
compliance by citizens of government directives and rights violations by
security actors in the 774 local government areas across Nigeria.
The CLEEN Foundation and partners
are supporting the Edo state police command with 220 quantities of 250ml hand
sanitizers, 704 facemasks and 530 copies of COVID-19 guidelines. The same
quantity will be distributed across all the state police commands in Nigeria. This is in recognition of the role of
the Nigeria Police Force as the lead security agency in securing lives and
properties of citizens in Nigeria as provided by the 1999 Constitution.
CLEEN Foundation uses this
medium to commend the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force especially the Edo
state command in dousing tensions and mitigating electoral violence towards the
countdown of the Governorship elections in the state. In a bid to promote free
and fair elections on Saturday 19th September 2020, the Nigeria
Police Force and other security agencies
policing the elections are urged to be non-partisan and professional before, during
and after the election. In addition, they should abide with the Code of Conduct
and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Electoral Duty developed by
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
We urge all political actors in Edo state in the
light of the peace accord brokered by the National Peace Committee to eschew
all form of political violence and disruptive actions that will affect the
integrity of the elections in Edo state.
We call on the independent National Electoral
Commission to ensure strict adherence to its guidelines for the conduct of
elections and clearly map out punitive measures for election stakeholders who
flout the Commission’s COVID-19 guidelines.
We request voters to comply with National Center
for Disease Control/Presidential Task Force laid down guidelines and INEC
policy in conducting elections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic while
coming out to exercise their civic rights come Saturday 19th
September 2020.
We recommend synergy and effective collaboration
between security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission
towards delivering a peaceful and transparent elections in Edo state that will
be a model for other elections in Nigeria
The CLEEN Foundation
(formerly known as Centre for Law Enforcement Education in Nigeria) was
established in 1998 as a leading non-governmental organization (NGO) to promote
public safety, security, justice, research, and advocacy in Nigeria. CLEEN
Foundation has Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples
Rights based in Banjul, The Gambia and was awarded the 2019 Human Rights Award
by the National Human Rights Commission.
May
God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Benson Olugbuo, PhD
Executive Director
CLEEN Foundation