By Fatima Zahra Muhammad
ASHENEWS reports that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has organized a training for police personnel on handling children who come in contact with the law.
The two-day program was held at the Grand Central Hotel in Kano State on Thursday.
The Kano State Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Usaini Gumel in his keynote address, said that the Nigeria Police was mindful of the vulnerability of children, hence the move to train its personnel on effective handling.
“The Nigeria Police Force Gender Unit is known for playing vital roles with the desired skills in handling cases of children in relation to crime and criminality.
“It is against the backdrop of the fact that children are the most vulnerable groups, the need for expertise in handling their matters by police officers. The Police Gender Unit is established to specifically handle these cases with utmost care.
“This workshop by merely seeing the crops of facilitators will avail the participants who are Police Officers handling cases of children being victims of conflicts with the relevant guidelines, skills, structured procedures, and expertise contained in the developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) targeted at meeting the demand of the dynamic society,” he said.
Gumel urged the participants to take advantage of this workshop to gain from the knowledge contained in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
“To do this efficiently, you need to cooperate with the facilitators, interact and communicate with one another and exchange ideas, especially on topical issues relating to the security and welfare of children,” he said.
Gumel assured the participants that the Nigeria Police Force will continue to prioritize the human capacity development of its personnel.
“To achieve this, we will continue to partner with important stakeholders and partners especially UNICEF, UNDP, CLEEN Foundation, etc. to ensure that the vision and mission statement of the Inspector-General of Police is achieved,” he said.
ASHENEWS further reports that the former inspector-general of police, IGP Usman Baba, had last week unveiled the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for handling children who come in contact with the law.
