Adamawa Trains Police and Security Agencies on Human Rights and Due Process

At the Election Tribunal Court Hall inside the High Court Complex in Jimeta, Yola North, something important happened that did not make much noise but deserves to be heard.

Officers from some of Nigeria’s most consequential law enforcement agencies sat in one room, opened their notebooks, and spent an entire day learning how to do their jobs better — not just more efficiently, but more lawfully.

The Adamawa Administration of Criminal Justice Law State Level Working Group organised a one-day specialised training for law enforcement agencies on the implementation of the Adamawa ACJL 2018. The session brought together officials from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and the Nigeria Correctional Service. These are the institutions that touch the lives of ordinary Adamawa residents most directly when the criminal justice system swings into motion.

The focus of the day was clear and practical. Lawful arrest. Due process. The rights of suspects. The boundaries within which every officer, regardless of rank or agency, is required to operate.

In his welcoming address, Comrade Suleiman A. Abubakar, Chairman of the Adamawa ACJL State Level Working Group, did not mince words. He described the training as a crucial step toward building the kind of professionalism and accountability that Adamawa’s criminal justice system needs. His message was straightforward — knowing the law is not enough. Applying it correctly, consistently, and with respect for the people it is meant to protect, is what the work actually demands.

Presentations came from experts representing the State House of Assembly, the American University of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Together, they walked participants through the key provisions of the ACJL 2018, with particular attention to human rights safeguards and the legal procedures that must govern every arrest, search, and detention.

That last point carries real weight. Across Nigeria, complaints about unlawful detention, arbitrary arrests, and procedural violations have long been a source of friction between security agencies and the communities they serve. In Adamawa, as in many other states, the ACJL was enacted precisely to address those gaps and give the criminal justice process a more humane and accountable framework. A law, however, is only as strong as the people charged with enforcing it.

By the end of the session, participants had covered ground that goes beyond textbook knowledge. They had engaged directly with facilitators, shared experiences from the field, discussed the challenges that come with implementing the ACJL in real-world situations, and heard from colleagues across different agencies about what has worked and what has not.

The outcomes from the training pointed toward a system that, with the right commitment, can work better for everyone. Officers left with a clearer understanding of the ACJL’s principles, a stronger awareness of why human rights protections are not optional extras but legal requirements, and a more detailed grasp of the correct procedures for lawful arrest and detention.

The training also produced a set of recommendations that the working group intends to take seriously. These include regular capacity-building programmes for law enforcement personnel, public awareness campaigns to help ordinary Nigerians understand their rights under the ACJL, and deeper collaboration across criminal justice institutions. There was also a call for monitoring mechanisms to track how well agencies are complying with the law and to identify gaps before they become patterns.

Mr. Boniface Wazuri Ugwabiya, Chairman of the Security and Law Enforcement Sub-Committee of the Adamawa ACJL State Level Working Group, closed the day with a direct challenge to every officer in the room. He urged them to take what they had learned and apply it in their daily duties, not as an instruction from above but as a personal commitment to the kind of justice that earns public trust.

It is easy to organise a training. It is harder to change a culture. But the decision to bring multiple agencies into the same space, under the same curriculum, with the same expectation that the law applies to everyone equally, is a step in the right direction.

In Adamawa, that step was taken in Jimeta last week. The real test, as always, begins on the streets.