A Non-Governmental Organization, CLEEN Foundation, has conducted a two-day training for security stakeholders in Zamfara on civilian protection, Civil-Military Cooperation and International Humanitarian Law.
The training was organized by the CLEEN Foundation & International Alert, with support from Open Society Africa.
Declaring the workshop closed in Gusau on Friday, Mrs Chigozirim Okoro, Program Manager of the Foundation, said it was aimed at promoting human rights, inclusivity and accountability in security sector governance.
Okoro also said that it was aimed at ensuring early response to existing and emerging security challenges in Nigeria.
“One of the major objectives of this training is improving the effectiveness of civilian oversight agencies to document human rights violations by security personnel through operationalization of the human rights management and information systems.
“This is also to enhance security sector accountability on the right violations as well as creating conducive environment for cultivation and cross-fertilization of ideas towards a robust oversight plan,” she explained.
She further noted that the workshop seeks to strengthen the participants in understanding the internal control mechanisms in the functions of security sector.
Meanwhile, Malam Bashir Kabir, Director of Information, State Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, in his paper presentation at the workshop, called on government to regulate the social media.
The paper was entitled “Impact of Traditional and Social Media in Promoting Civil Security Relationship in Nigeria”.
Kabir said that the paper aimed at analyzing contribution of traditional and social media platforms in promoting civil security relationship.
He said that this was with a view to enhancing the capacity of the participants with more knowledge about civil-security relationship and the impact of traditional and social media in promoting national security.
According to him, regulating social media became necessary to mitigate fake news and misinformation on national security.
He stressed the need for the restrategising of the various aspects of community-security towards ensuring public safety, law enforcement, emergency response, and community engagements.
Participants in the workshop included representatives from security agencies in the state, media practitioners, state-based CSOs and community-based organizations on human rights.
Other participants were representatives from the National Human Rights’ Commission and state Ministries of Justice and Women Affairs, among others.
The training was titled “Sensitization Workshop and Community Engagement on Civil-Military Cooperation and Civilian Protection Using the HRMIS Platform”.
