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.
