Nigeria, July 23 -- The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN) have said the police trust fund needs to be truly independent and free from government interference to perform effectively.

The groups said this on Thursday at a press conference on the assessment and implementation of the trust fund since its establishment two years ago.

RULAAC and PWAN said there are many barriers to the effective performance of the PTF.

"The structure of the PTF makes it impossible for it to operate like a trust fund. The trust fund is modelled like every other parastatal with layers of authority and approvals- Executive Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs and the Federal Executive Council.

"The...