A human rights group, Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), Tuesday, trained 39 youths on alternative to violence in Nasarawa state.
Deputy director PRAWA, Ogechi Ogu, disclosed this during the training at the police officers’ mess in Lafia, the state capital.
She said the training was aimed at engaging youths on alternative to violence in a bid to address rising issues on challenges of trust and confidence between community and the police.
This is against the backdrop of the 2020 EndSARS protests.
“This is part of PRAWAS human rights training for the police. So we have found that training Police alone would not solve the problem. We equally need to engage the public also so that there would be a ballance, and that confidence that is required for the police to provide security for us would be achieved.
“The training would bring together the police and the community they serve to build trust to discuss issues of human rights and to deal with issues of violence and that particular component is targeting the youths,” she said.
She equally called for a legal framework to support the restorative justice system within the criminal justice system in the country, saying “this would allow court to focus on cases that need to be adjudicated and that can make room for restorative justice.”
One of the participants, Mr. keffas Tiga said that all the youth organizations in the state were in attendance to learn how to live peacefully in their various communities.
Tiga, who is the Nasarawa state chairman of the Nigerian Youth Congress (NYC), added: “You know Nasarawa state didn’t join the EndSARS protest, but one thing we are trying to do is to learn more on the need to live in peace.”
