Rivers Police Giant Strides To Eliminate Human Rights Abuses: PCRC/FIDA Train Investigative Officers On Paralegal Services

PCRC,FIDA Embark On Paralegal Training For Police Officers In Rivers

Investigative Police officers where today equipped with basic training on Paralegal Services by the International Federation Of Women Lawyers, FIDA in conjunction with Police Community Relations Committee, PCRC on Tuesday June 17,2025

As part of efforts by the command to ensure officers in Rivers State command are equiped to handle gender based violence cases, issues with handling minor in line with the law and standard operating procedures for 21st century policing

In his remarks, the Commissioner of Police in Rivers, CP Olugbenga Adepoju said “We have being having lectures like this from time to time as directed by the Inspector General of Police, we want you to turn out in your numbers to come and gain one thing or the other.

“There is nothing as good as building our capacity to ensure we deliver service to mankind and let Rivers be a different. From others State

“We have people who have the capacity that can deliver and they are here with us.And we will not hesitate to ensure we employ and use them.What ever we have learnt here,jot it down and ensure you use it judiciously”.

In an interview with the Chairperson of FIDA Rivers, Life Jim George she said
the paralegal training where we bring together retired Police officers, desk officers and different division in charge of gender based crime, to remind them again of the training they got, how to deal with the abused public, how to deal with reporters of all kind of gender based violence.

“They need to be empathetic,they need to listen,they need not to judge them as they move into them. They need not to throw them away immediately or to make the atmosphere very very toxic so that they will just go away and at the end of the day extort them and make them know that Police is not your friend is only in the book.

“So that is what we have come to achieve in partnership with the Rivers State Police Command and the Police Community Relations Committee, we saw it necessary to train them.

“Today we have like five laws to expose them to,to up their skills and we will still give them certificate.FIDA is an organization all over the world,a certificate from FIDA could earn you what you cannot understand.

“Is not a training we want to do for one off,is a series,we keep reminding them, we keep visiting the Police Divisions..Our contact is everywhere We are all over the socials.Our offices are in the locals.

We have in one LGA OKIRIKA, Bundu, we have people trained, paralegals, gate keepers, we have Youth, women, Chiefs, CDC. On what their roles are, when you see something, say something she said.

“Just a button away from you, this crimes can be curbed, justice can be served.

“We remind them, you are not just a Police officer, there is a duty imposed on you to look at the laws. Not just to drive people away We have reports where, once you approach a Police station and say my husband or wife beat me up, they drive you away,please madam this one is husband and wife matter,go and settle with your husband or wife. They began to judge you.

“We are saying no,that is not what the law is.Please show empathy,if you throw them away like that,most of them can take their life.Some go into third degree depression and is difficult to bring them out.They will now began to blame themselves for going to the Police station.

“These are the things we have brought them together to say no,please beyond being a Police officer, you are a human being. Act like one”.

Chairman of PCRC in Rivers , Voke Emore, said One of the primary responsibility of the PCRC is to bring the community closer to the Police,FIDA as an international organization also care for the less privilege and they handle cases involving women and children.

“They try to protect women and children in the command.So FIDA and PCRC decided to partner to achieve the result of ensuring that Police,Police the community properly .

“And the only way to do that is to give training We always talk about training and re-training of Police officers.

This paralegal training is to give them the capacity to handle welfare desk cases,people that have human rights abuses even in Divisional level.