Emma Okonji examines the state and
consequences of national insecurity in the
country, and how such ugly trend could be
tackled using modern technology tools
The Inspector General (IG) of Police, Mr.
Mohammed Abubakar, recently decried the
alarming upsurge of violent crimes across the
country, noting that the trauma of ceaseless
violent incidents had lingered for so long with
innocent citizens.
The IG, who spoke during a meeting with all
the assistant inspectors-general (AIG) in Abuja
over the rising spate of insecurity in the
country lamented the activities of Boko Haram
in the North, kidnapping in the East and armed
robbery in the South-west.
He said: “In spite of the emergency rule in
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, the
insurgents still inflict untold hardships to
peace loving and innocent residents of these
states.”
While the federal government is claiming that
it is winning the battle against militants in the
country, we hear cases of incessant killing of
innocent people almost on a weekly basis.
Owing to the devastating effect of insecurity
across the country, this piece seeks to highlight
the dangers of insecurity in the country, and
the need for government to start thinking of
using technology tools in addressing the ugly
trend of insecurity, just the way it is done in
developed countries of the world.
Insecurity
In some parts of the country, armed robbery,
kidnapping and other violent crimes such as
murder, assassination, mass killing, and
political upheavals seem to be the order of the
day. Hardly any week passes without tales of
woes of residents robbed, kidnapped or
assassination of political rivals.
Undoubtedly, Nigerians in most parts of the
country sleep with their eyes open. Many
businesses have shut down while families have
been thrown into pains and agony as a result
of the activities of militant gangs in different
parts of the country.
The security of lives and businesses is key to
the development of any nation and this
informs why most nations today pay premium
attention to the provision of top of the range
security infrastructure and e-policing system
to ensure that perpetrators of crimes are
tracked down and punished almost immediately
the crime is committed.
Western Approach to Insecurity
Nigerians watched in amazement how America
deployed its security system to track down
the April 13, 2013 Boston Marathon bombers.
Similarly, in less than five minutes the images
of the two men who hacked down a brave
soldier on London street on May 22, 2013,
appeared on television screen around the
world. There were no guess works in those
scenarios, which make many Nigerians get
disturbed by the many cases of unresolved
high profile crimes in the country.
The role of ICT in tackling crime in modern
times cannot be overemphasised, going by the
modern tactics deployed of the western world
in tackling crimes.
Surveillance camera has been one of the most
visible in modern cities, that is used to address
criminality. The United Kingdom is ringed with
a total of 1.85 million close circuit television
cameras (CCTV). The city of London alone
boasts of 422,000 CCTV cameras with a camera
assigned to every 14 persons.
The Nigerian PSCS Project
What could be Nigeria's major step towards
addressing criminality through modern
policing, came by way of the Public Security
Communications System (PSCS) project
initiated under the late President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua administration. The project, which
cost $470 million, was funded through a
finance agreement between the Nigerian
government and the China Export Bank. The
project was implemented by telecoms
equipment company, ZTE.
Contrary to popular belief that the project was
merely to install CCTV cameras in Lagos and
Abuja, to monitor crimes and address
criminality, THISDAY investigation revealed that
the PSCS project was indeed a major approach
by the federal government towards providing
modern infrastructure for public security and
e-policing in Nigeria.
The project according to THISDAY findings, has
five main components. The first is the Global
Open Truncking Architecture (GOTA)
subsystem, which involves the deployment of
696 base transceiver stations (BTS) nationwide,
and the network supports the deployment of
1,500,000 subscriber lines. In a non-technical
language, this aspect of the project provides
the Nigerian security system with secured
voice services, that can accommodate 1,500,00
lines, under the GOTA solution subsystem. The
solution, it was gathered, has been widely
deployed in over 40 countries and areas like
Ghana, Burma, Malaysia, Chile, Sudan,
Mongolia, Senegal, China, among others.
The GOTA solution subsystem has been put
into use by the Nigerian Police and it has
proven to be extremely secured and fit to
address criminality in the country.
The second aspect of the PSCS project is the
Video Surveillance Subsystem (VSS), which is
the most noticeable component of the project
with the installation of 1000 cameras each in
Abuja and Lagos. The application of solar
solutions in this subsystem, it was learnt, was
informed by the poor nature of public
electricity power supply in Nigeria and the
need to ensure sustained round the clock
operation of the cameras. Video images
captured by the cameras can be stored for
more than one month, and also be transferred
to the system’s database for archiving.
The third aspect is the Coalition Emergency
Response (CERS) subsystem, which supports the
Police call centre for emergency information.
This subsystem allows emergency response in
emergency situations by emergency services.
It provides a national platform for emergency
calls by citizens to the Nigeria Police
nationwide. Under this subsystem, mobile
emergency communication vehicles (ECVs) may
be deployed in emergency situations when
commercial communications networks are
incapacitated.
The fourth component is the e-policing
subsystem, which is to facilitate the
deployment of e-policing databases, while the
fifth is Video Conferencing subsystem that will
enable video conferencing by all Commands of
the Nigeria Police, with the Force
Headquarters (FHQ) and among themselves.
Attacks on PSCS Project
Although the security project is said to have
been completed and handed over to the federal
government, most Nigerians have complained
bitterly about the PSCS security project that
was contracted to ZTE. According to some
Nigerians, the project was an exercise in
futility because its impact on security matters
is yet to be felt by Nigerians.
If the federal government could spend a
whopping $470 million (N72.9 billion) for a
project that will address public security issues
and policing in the country, Nigerians should
be able to feel the impact. In spite of the
money spent, insurgency still abounds in the
Northern part of the country, and kidnapping
is still rampant in the South-eastern part of
the country, with minimal arrests, some
Nigerians said.
Addressing the issue of insecurity in the
country, Chief Executive Officer of Teledom
Group of Companies, and specialist in
information technology (IT) surveillance
equipment, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, called on
government to educate the Nigerian Police on
IT surveillance, which he said, remained key to
the use and understanding of surveillance
equipment.
"Every Nigerian police that is on duty on the
high ways should have a laptop or iPad or iPad
Mini that is connected to the internet, and
must have mastery of them in detecting
crimes. They should be able to use the laptop
to connect to an existing database to know if a
traffic offender is a first time offender or
not," Ekuwem said.
According to him, "Police should have
adequate training on the use of surveillance
machines in detecting crimes, since it is not
enough to invest in surveillance equipment,
without educating those that will use the
equipment."
He called on government to install more CCTV
cameras on highways, roads and streets, with
all of them seamlessly connected to a central
database, in order to address insecurity issues
in the country.
The ZTE Defence
The Managing Director of ZTE Nigeria, Mr. Hao
Fuqiang, in an interview with THISDAY, sad
every aspect of the PSCS project had been
completed and handed over to the Nigerian
government.
According to him, “ Every component of the
project has been completed, tested and handed
over to the Nigerian government. They are all
working in perfect condition. Yes, we had
challenges at the beginning of the project but
they were all addressed and I am proud to say
that ZTE has helped to build modern
architecture for public security in Nigeria”.
At the recent mid-term briefing, the Minister
of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, confirmed
the project was already completed and “the
thrust of the memorandum of understanding
(MOU) is the deployment of a comprehensive,
reliable, modern and robust public security
communication system code that is named
Global Open Trucking Architecture, for
national security operations”.
FG's Submission
Vice-President Namadi Sambo while inspecting
some of the PSCS facilities at the Police Force
Headquarters, expressed satisfaction and
happiness with the way the new security
platform was being operated, and assured
Nigerians that it would check criminal
activities in the country.
The Vice-President said: “I must say that I am
highly impressed. This is one of the security
supports that is necessary and I am pleased
that Mr. President has given approval for the
Nigeria Police to acquire the sophisticated and
necessary security surveillance system. I can
see the whole of Murtala Muhammed Airport,
Abuja Airport, Lagos, Abuja and so many
things, throughout the equipment.”
“I must congratulate you Inspector General of
Police and the Minister of Police Affairs and I
assure you that we will continue to support the
police to do everything that will meet our
noble objectives of providing safety for both
lives and property of Nigerians.”
The Nitty-gritty of PSCS Project
The National Public Security Communication
System project was awarded to ZTE by the
federal government in 2010. The
implementation commenced in 2011 and it was
delivered in 2012. The project has over 700
stations across the country with each state
having a switching centre that houses video
conference centres and emergency centres.
The Global Open Truncking Architecture
(GoTA), which is one aspect of the PSCS
project, was jointly developed by ZTE and the
Chinese National Research Department (CNRD).
It has grown to be the global leader in
specialised digital truncking standards, and it
is based on mobile technology, used for group
dispatching communications with globally
acknowledged security, and emergency
communications system. It has been deployed
in over 40 countries including Norway,
Poland , Russia, Ghana, Morocco, Czech
Republic and China among others.
THISDAY investigation revealed that the PSCS
infrastructure and the surveillance technology
have recently assisted in the arrest of many
high profile criminals in the country, but the
details were not made public for security
reasons. It has also helped in averting some
terrorist attacks. Many security operatives
declined to comment on the many cases
involved citing the security sensitive nature of
the information.
Maintenance and Usage
Although the PSCS project has been completed
and handed over to the federal government
since 2012, its maintenance and professional
usage, based on skill mastery is key to its
success.
The issue of maintenance is key because those
base stations have to be fuelled regularly,
engineers have to visit sites to address minor
routine issues. The success level cannot be
attained if these issues are not addressed,
because like every other technology, the
system still need human interface to drive
performance.
According to a Lagos-based surveillance
expert, Mr. Sylvester Akuga, “nothing stops the
government from considering a maintenance
contract for the project, since it is better to
make it work than allow the infrastructure to
waste away.”
With criminals becoming more and more
sophisticated, it is expected that government
ensures that all the necessary resources and
personnel necessary to maintain the PSCS
infrastructure are provided, while discussions
with relevant bodies on incremental additions
to the number of CCTV cameras and the cities
covered by the cameras, should commence.
Though the Chinese firm may have completed
its own side of the project, a lot will have to
go into the maintenance of the infrastructure
already deployed.
Besides, if London boasts of close to 500,000
cameras, just one thousand cameras each in
Abuja and Lagos may not after all perform the
miracle of unravelling every crime. A lot needs
to be added and more cities covered.
Another security expert, Mr. Celestine Agu,
said: “What they have done now is to build the
necessary backbone. What the federal
government and the states need to do next, is
to begin to plan possible measures on how
they can hook up more cameras and more base
stations to the PSCS project.”
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