By Eniola Akinkuotu, Stephen Angbulu, Godfrey George & Percy Ani
Key tracking equipment deployed by the police to go after kidnappers, bandits and terrorists has remained inactive since the beginning of the year amid raging violent crimes across the country, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.
Multiple reliable sources, who confided in Sunday PUNCH, attributed the downtime to non-subscription and failure to engage the relevant company to carry out system upgrade, among other challenges.
At least 2, 943 people in Nigeria have been abducted across the country in the last six months since the critical tracking technology was down.
Experts have noted that the use of mobile devices by kidnappers to negotiate ransoms makes it possible for law enforcement agencies to determine the movements of the cell phone owners.
Even if users have their location services, cellular data and Wi-Fi disabled, tracking system enables law enforcement agencies to have access to the technology that can determine the location of a mobile device at a specified time.
Senior police officers, including two commissioners of police who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said the platforms used in tracking phones had been bad since January.
They said in certain cases that were of national interest, the police had to rely on the Office of the National Security Adviser in tracking bandits.
One of the commissioners of police, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the condition of anonymity, said the equipment was handed over to the police by the Nigerian government a few years ago during the tenure of IGP Solomon Arase and was installed by a Nigerian company.
“The equipment was given to us by President Buhari. The thing has not been working because those who are supposed to ensure that it runs well have not played their part.
“They claim that they are being owed money for the subscription.” he said.
When asked to explain how the subscription works, the CP said the police had not paid the fees since 2015 and the police had had to rely on the DSS.
He added, “From what I gathered, subscription fees are meant to be paid yearly but you won’t believe that the police have not paid since 2015. Initially, the company gave us a grace period but they have now cut off the police completely. We now rely solely on DSS and NSA office. It’s a terrible situation and it has worsened the insecurity in the country. The Police Trust Fund promised to help but we have not seen any action yet.”
Another police commissioner confirmed the development but said efforts were being made to restore the equipment.
The police commissioner added that the platform was undergoing a system upgrade which would soon be completed.
He added, “You know this thing is technology just like computer so we do upgrades from time to time. A lot of people on the field don’t even understand how it works. It is undergoing an upgrade because you have new features coming in from time to time. There are new technologies that you have to update to enhance their capacity.
“We have some new equipment which we need to adjust so they can link together. Some are still working. It is not as if all components are shut. That is what is happening.”
Efforts to speak with the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, proved abortive as he neither responded to calls nor a text message on Friday.
Amid the prolonged police tracking system glitches, at least 2, 943 people in Nigeria have been abducted across the country in the last six months even as the police platform used in tracking phones has shut down making it difficult for police…
