Create Mental Health Desks in Nigerian Police Stations – NGO by Tony Ademiluyi

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Jul 28, 2022, 5:21:30 AM7/28/22

to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Going by the World Health Organization’s report that about one billion people on planet earth have one mental health disorder or coming down home, the Nigerian House of Representatives posited that about twenty million Nigerians had a mental health challenge, it has become imperative for the Nigerian Police Force to be more sensitive to this nagging health challenge.

Some crimes may be committed by mentally challenged persons who weren’t in their right senses when they were committed and so jailing them on account of crimes committed when they weren’t sane can amount to a travesty of justice.

An Abuja based NGO, Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) recently made a call for the establishment of mental health desks at the divisional police commands in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

As reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Dr Aminu Garba, the Coordinator of AHBN, made call on Thursday in Abuja during a one-day training programme organised for police officers drawn from the 10 FCT Metro Divisional Police Commands.

The theme of the programme is “Highlights of Mental Health Problems as a Support to Routine Police Investigation and Interrogation.”

Garba said the programme organised by the Crime Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CCAN) in collaboration with the Mandate Health Empowerment Initiatives and AHBN had 25 participants.

He said the training was organised in recognition of the fact that a lot of suspects being investigated and interrogated had mental challenges.

“Many a time, police officers are not well equipped to understand and handle suspects with mental health issues during interrogation.

“The training is to help police officers to understand the basic signs and symptoms of mental illness during investigations.

“The target is to ensure that police officers are fully equipped to confront any suspect with metal health issues during investigation and interrogation,” he said.

Mr Ameh Abba, the President, Mandate Health Initiative Empowerment (MHEI), an NGO, said the programme was organised to educate and sensitise participants to all it takes to be productive.

He said the event was organised because of the discovery of the importance of mental health during investigation and interrogation by police officers.

“As a matter of fact, mental health has become very critical, especially in relation to the operations of security operatives in Nigeria.

“To have them perform optimally, it is important we prioritise their mental health,” he said.

Mr Hassan Zaggi, the Chairman of CCAN, said the training was organised in recognition of the challenges confronting the operations of police officers.

He said the idea was to ensure that the media were part of the solutions to the problems confronting police officers in the discharge of their duties.

This clarion call by ABHN shouldn’t be restricted to the FCT alone but should permeate the length and breadth of the entire Nigerian police stations if our security architecture is to improve.

It is a step in the right direction for this call to be made and we only hope that the policy makers listen to this voice of reason.