The Nigerian Police on Monday, said that it has included protection and promotion of human rights in the curriculum of police training institutions to train police personnel that will respect the rights of citizens, while discharging their constitutional duty of law enforcement.

The Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, said this in Abuja, during the Nigeria police force youth summit, organised to commemorate the 2024 United Nations International Youth Day Celebration, as well as engage with Nigerian youths on national security.

He also noted that he had ordered the divisional police officers across the federation to leverage on volunteers, such as special police constabulary, and vigilante groups to provide adequate security within their areas of responsibility. Egbetokun also disclosed that the Nigeria police has since flagged off farm patrol in Northeast, to enable farmers return to their farms to ensure food security.

He also celebrated the achievements of the anti cult unit of the force, which was set up to checkmate cult activities in secondary schools in Nigeria. Noting that bad eggs is not peculiar to the police alone, the IGP said that society gets the kind of police it deserves as police personnel are recruited from the population. Egbetokun however, said that the police has put mechanism in place to fish out bad eggs in their midst.

In a keynote address, the former Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun told the police that the dimension of security threats in Nigeria has migrated from physical to the digital space. He identified these new threats to include, misinformation and disinformation, hacking, espionage, subversion amongst other cyber crimes.

He advised leaders to tap into the youthful energy and innovative skills of the youthful population in Nigeria to fast track development or risk the chance of subversive elements who will stop at nothing to harness these national asset to cause chaos and anarchy.

He urged Nigerian leaders to tone down their flamboyant life style, and flaunting of wealth, so that the youths will not be encouraged to go into crime to replicate such life style. He identified economic challenges, trust gap, erosion of traditional African values, and failure of the justice system, among others, as some of the challenges faced by young people.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Malagi, who was represented by Director General, Voice of Nigeria, Jibrin Ndache, appealed to the youths to work with the president to move to nation to the next level.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Sen Ibrahim Gaidam, said that government policies’ which is currently causing some pains will herald a brighter future for Nigerian youths, and rebuild Nigeria.

Represented by Permanent Secretary, James Sule, the minister highlighted some government policies like operationalization of the student loan scheme, which gives every Nigerian youth equal opportunity to access higher education.

The National President UNESCO Read and Earn Federation (UNESCO REF), Abdulsalami Ladigbolu, called for youth engagement in national security. He also noted that it was time to acknowledge the role of young people as change agents in transforming the country.

“Today’s event serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it aims to celebrate the energy, creativity, and potential of Nigerian youth. Secondly, it seeks to inspire and empower them to see themselves as essential agents of change in the realm of national security,” he said.