Gaidam requests EU support for Nigeria police reforms

The Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam has requested the partnership and support of the European Union to update the Nigeria police reforms.

The minister also reiterated the commitment of the federal government to create a more receptive and professional police service in Nigeria.

Gaidam, according to a statement signed by the Deputy Director of Public Information and Relations, Bolaji Kazeem, spoke during the kindness visit of the delegation of the Embassy of the European Union, led by the ambassador Gautier Mignot at the headquarters of the Ministry of Abuja.

According to him, the expertise, resources and experience in the police reform and governance could significantly contribute to government efforts.

He said: “Your excellence, I would like to inform you about the exercise of reform of the Nigerian police in progress, which is supervised by the Ministry of Police. This initiative aims to increase the effectiveness, responsibility and community involvement of the police force in Nigeria. “

Gaidam believed that the key concentration areas include improved training, better resource allocation and establishing more robust supervisory mechanisms to ensure public transparency and confidence.

He recalled that the European Union was at the forefront of supporting the regional security initiatives, including the Western Africa Police Information System.

“This initiative, supported by Interpol, has significantly improved the ability of Western Africa law enforcement agencies to electronically sharing critical police information.

“By improving coordination, Wapis has played an essential role in combating transnational crimes, such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and terrorist threats that continue to challenge our national security,” he stressed.

The minister claimed that the European Union and Ecowas have remained employed to ensure the full launch of WAPI in all Ecowas and Mauritania countries, revealing that the financing was made available for the November 2017 initiative and extended until May 2025.

He added that, due to the predominant security challenges in Nigeria and the wider region in Western Africa, there should be efforts to ensure continuous EU financing for the complete implementation and durability of the WAPIS system.

“The additional technical assistance and support for strengthening the capacity will further increase the capabilities of law in Nigeria and will ensure that we maximize the impact of this crucial initiative.”, Said Gaidam.

Earlier, the ambassador of the European Union in Nigeria, Ambassador Gautier Mignot said that the Ministry of Police is one of their main partners, adding that their cooperation was based on values ​​and interests of actions, respecting the rule of law, human rights, the democracy that the police is the nucleus to express these values.

He said that stability and security in Nigeria and Ecowas is of interest to the European Union and, at a time when the world evolves very quickly on regional environment and the need to reform and strengthen the criminal justice system, addresses gender-based violence, the fight against human trafficking in person.

“Migration problems, we address the problems we face worldwide with very strong criminal networks, this is very important to work hand in hand to fight networks, to disassemble and protect the victims,” ​​said the sending.