Civil Society Organization, CLEEN Foundation, on Tuesday, has organized a Civil-Military forum on the performance of Human Rights Desks in Military formations and operations in Nigeria.
Held at the conference hall of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, attendance was drawn from NHRC, Senate Committee on Defence, House Committee on Defence, Security agencies and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
In his opening remarks, Dr. Gad Peter, the Executive Director of the CLEEN Foundation expressed joy “to speak about an issue that is at the core of what CLEEN Foundation’s strategic intervention, which is Civil Military Relations,” and thanked the NHRC’s Executive Secretary for partnering with CLEEN.
“It brings me great joy to stand before you this morning, to speak about an issue that is at the core of what CLEEN Foundation’s strategic intervention, which is Civil Military Relations. I want to particularly thank the Executive Secretary for agreeing to work together with CLEEN Foundation whilst we also extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and relatives of those who lost their lives defending the territorial integrity of the country. It further underscored why this event is timely.”
Peter noted that recently the Foundation unveiled a research that sought to discuss the State of Civil-Military Relations in Nigeria Boko Haram and bandits insurgency prone areas of Northeast and Northwest.
“Months ago, CLEEN Foundation commissioned research that aimed to underscore the critical importance of understanding the dynamics of social relations between the civilian populations and the military. It primarily sought to discuss the state of Civil-Military Relations in Northeast and Northwest, Nigeria, as well as contribute to building a better relationship between the military and the media for enhanced civil military relations and assess security dynamics within the Borno and Zamfara state context vis- a-viz civil military relations.”
The research, according to the CLEEN Foundation boss, “Showed a deficit trajectory of the civil military programmes and interventions using a laboratory diagnosis of the factors constraining social relations amongst populations.”