SERAP trains Benue communities on security tracking, accountability

Residents of Benue State are being empowered to take a more active role in monitoring government actions and demanding accountability, particularly concerning public spending on safety and wellbeing. This initiative comes from the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) through a capacity-building workshop in Makurdi.

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We know that community members already have some form of capacity. We are just here to enhance that capacity and ensure that what they are doing is lawful and can produce results.

SERAP's Senior Programmes Officer, Folashade Arigbadu, explained that the workshop, part of the "People-Centered Public Safety project," aims to strengthen community members' skills in identifying security threats, interacting with security agencies, and using lawful means to ensure accountability. Arigbadu emphasized that the goal is to enhance existing community knowledge, not to teach self-protection from scratch, stating, "We are just here to enhance that capacity and ensure that what they are doing is lawful and can produce results."

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We need to do this with the people, not for the people. The people understand their communities better, so we want to work with them to strengthen what they already have.

The project is focusing initially on Guma and Katsina-Ala Local Government Areas in Benue, as well as Bayelsa State, based on research into safety and security concerns. SERAP plans to extend the initiative to other areas, with efforts already underway to establish a similar structure in Agatu Local Government Area. Participants include members of Community Policing Committees, religious groups, youth, traditional institutions, community leaders, and security agencies.

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If there is something happening in the community, they have direct access to security agencies. They can report early warning signs and discuss how to prevent a situation from escalating.

Arigbadu highlighted the importance of Community Policing Committees, established under the Police Act, as a vital channel for communities to communicate emerging security concerns to law enforcement. She urged citizens to pay closer attention to how government funds allocated for security are utilized, stating, "If the state government is getting money every year for security and people are still feeling insecure, they have a right to ask questions. What are you using the money to do? How are you deploying it?"

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If the state government is getting money every year for security and people are still feeling insecure, they have a right to ask questions. What are you using the money to do? How are you deploying it?