By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has called on residents of Benue state to become more proactive in accessing justice, monitoring government, demanding accountability and answers whenever public funds fail to translate into improved safety and well being.

The call was made by SERAP Senior Programmes Officer, Folashade Arigbadu, during a capacity-building workshop on promoting safety and security rights, accountability and access to justice, organised by the organisation in Makurdi at the weekend.

Arigbadu said the training, organised under SERAP’s “People-Centered Public Safety” project, was designed to strengthen the ability of community members to identify security threats, engage security agencies and use lawful means to demand accountability.

She explained that the organisation was not in Benue to teach communities how to protect themselves, noting that residents already possessed valuable knowledge and strategies for responding to threats.

“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,” she said.

According to her, SERAP was particularly interested in understanding how communities in Guma and Katsina-Ala Local Government Areas, LGAs, had been responding to security challenges and how their existing efforts could be strengthened.

“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,” she said.

Arigbadu said Benue and Bayelsa states were selected for the first phase of the project following research into safety and security concerns in the two states.
She added that the initiative would later be extended to other states and LGAs noting that SERAP was already working towards establishing a similar structure in Agatu LGA of Benue.

The SERAP official disclosed that participants included members of Community Policing Committees, comprising representatives of religious groups, women, youths, traditional institutions, community leaders and security agencies.

She said the committees, provided for under the Police Act, offered communities a direct channel for communicating emerging security threats to law enforcement agencies.

“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,” she said.

Arigbadu also urged citizens to pay closer attention to security votes, stressing that residents had a right to demand explanations from authorities when insecurity persisted despite government spending.

“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?” she asked.

She said citizens must also understand that responsibility for security did not rest solely with the Federal Government, adding that state governments had important roles to play. “They need to understand where responsibility lies and ask the right questions,” she said.

She explained that the training was aimed at helping residents understand their rights, identify the appropriate authorities and use lawful channels to seek accountability.

During the workshop, Lead, Legal, Lawyers Alert, Solumtochukwu Ozobulu, took participants on community safety and security rights, while Assistant Team Lead, Legal, SERAP, Oluwakemi Agunbiade, trained them on using the Freedom of Information, FOI, Act, to obtain information from public institutions.

Participants, including law students, traditional and religious leaders, commended SERAP for the initiative, saying the training had improved their understanding of their rights and responsibilities.

A law student, David Mzer, said the workshop had equipped participants with knowledge to ask relevant questions and demand information from government.
He added that participants had also learnt that some benefits they regarded as privileges were actually rights guaranteed by law, and pledged to share the knowledge acquired with other members of their communities.