Minister: Report Police Personnel to Complaints Commission

Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

The Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, has blamed the #EndSARS protests on the collapse of the Police Public Complaints Commission (PPCC).

Dingyadi stated this at the sensitisation campaign on the PPCC activities for the North-west that was held in Sokoto.

He posited that, the resuscitation of the PPCC would give the Nigerian populace an avenue to seek redress and report erring police officers who trampled on their human rights.

He stated that the PPCC would have averted the #EndSARS protest and its attendant negative consequences if it had not been rendered moribund due to lack of funding.

The minister said that “#EndSARS protests was birthed by incessant incidents of police brutality which angered the Nigerian youths and, the attendant effect was the destruction of public and private properties and, lives were unfortunately lost in the process.

“The operational guideline for the committee is to receive and study petitions while the secretariat would select the petitions to be handled by the PPCC.

“The committee will not handle cases currently in court of law, cases settled in a court of law, cases between police personnel, cases that are more than two years old, petitions that are not duly signed by the petitioner/anonymous petitions, cases between police and other security agencies and cases that are purely civil in nature involving a police officer.”

He enjoined Nigerians to report their complaints against police personnel to the PPCC.

He further disclosed that the body was created as a specialised institution to handle infractions committed by police officers.

The minister noted that the initiative was in furtherance of President Muhammadu Buhari’s quest to achieve “people-centric security arrangements.”

He assured that the government would prioritise citizens’ rights and address genuine cases of violation to promote inclusiveness, advance peace and security.

Members of the PPCC were drawn from, the Ministry of Police Affairs, Police Service Commission, Police Community Relations Committee, National Youth Council of Nigeria, National Human Rights Commission, Cleen Foundation (NGO), Nigeria Police Force and Ministry of Police Affairs (Police Inspectorate Department)– Secretariat.

There were goodwill messages from stakeholders in attendance at the one day sensitisation campaign held at Giginya Coral Hotel.