"Respect People’s Right" - Fashola tells LASTMA, others

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on Monday urged officials of the state's Traffic Management Authority, Kick Against Indiscipline and Neighbourhood Watch to respect people's rights by using non-violent strategy in discharging their duties.
Fashola, who spoke through a video teleconferencing, gave the advice at the commencement of a training programme, organised by the Office of Senior Special Assistant on Transport Education for 7,960 law enforcement officers at the state Public Service Staff Development Centre, Magodo.

The governor said, "As law enforcement personnel, you must display the core values of integrity, commitment, pride, professionalism, self-respect and respect for others in the courseof discharging your core responsibilities.
"You are engaged in the difficult yet important business of helping to regulate human behaviour on a daily basis. Your decisions affect people's lives. You must bear that in mind in your decision making. You are working for the people. You are their servant and not their masters."
Fashola said his administration would continue to conduct effective training for men and women implementing government's policies, saying such training was consistent with contemporary minimum standards around the world.
The Senior Special Assistant on Transport Education, Dr. Miriam Masha, explained that the training was "to prepare the law enforcement officers in the state for high service delivery and make them have better orientation to help promote law and order".
She said, "One is not expected to apply unnecessary force while apprehending someone who has violated the law of the state. These are things that each of the officers under the state government must know. There is nothing new about this."
Special Assistant on KAI Matters, Dapo Bode-Thomas, who later spoke with journalists, said law enforcement "does not always involve use of force". He added that the programme would run through a period of 20 months.
He said, "The training involves two-week field activities where weare going to be engaging the public and listening to their opinions. The officers will spend another two weeks in the classroom, making it a one-month training programme."
He said the government had set up a provost office with a mandate to monitor the conduct of KAI officers, saying after the training, any advice by the provost concerning their attitude would be implemented.

Source: Punch

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