Nigeria’s perennial vehicle theft problem can be solved by deploying a unique and effective technology, Founder of VehicleCheck, a car tracking and recovery company based in Canberra, Australia, Mr Idowu Banjo, has said.
According to Banjo, the new technology will not only help in the recovery of stolen vehicles but also help members of the public avoid buying one.
He went further to state that security agencies like the Police and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) can leverage the invention to prevent vehicles stolen from other parts of the world from coming into the country.
Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, is a favourite dumping ground for stolen automobiles from around the world.
In 2021, the Federal Government revealed that 40 per cent of vehicles brought into the country were stolen from elsewhere.
This sad situation has caused sellers and buyers a lot of problems over the years, especially when reported and tracked down to the country by international security agencies.
However, Banjo believes that sanity will be restored in the system and car sellers and buyers in Nigeria can experience more peace by taking advantage of the power and effectiveness of VehicleCheck in preventing and recovering stolen vehicles anywhere in the country.
In a statement on Friday announcing the unveiling of the new product, Banjo said: “VehicleCheck is the result of years of hard work, critical thinking, and innovation. It is the most resounding response yet to the issue of stolen vehicles in Nigeria and indeed in any part of the world today.
“The issue of having vehicles stolen is a global problem. But the sad part in Nigeria is the lack of platforms providing effective tracking and recovery services. This is why we have come up with this invention to bridge this gap.
“Our technology not only helps you locate and recover stolen vehicles but also helps to stop other unaware people from purchasing them from thieves. Our innovation provides easy access to a vehicle’s full information and extra security for a car by making sure it can’t be bought even when stolen.
“Unlike in the past when you needed to have a friendly relationship with security operatives to have a chance at retrieving your stolen car, VehicleCheck lifts this burden off your shoulders by taking care of the various processes at zero cost.
“All people need to do to safeguard their vehicles is register the Vehicle Identification Number on our platform: vehiclecheck.info in two easy steps.
“After registering your VIN with VehicleCheck and an event happens where your car gets stolen, you log in to our website together with a police report stating ownership and theft of the vehicle and have your car flagged as stolen.
“After that is done, once someone logs in with the same VIN in a different location, the VehicleCheck system immediately notifies us along with the geo-location of the device used in logging it in. This makes retrieval easy.
“With this system, you never have to worry about buying a stolen car or ordering a stolen car from outside the country, because, with its VIN, you can discover all past records on the vehicle at zero cost.
“With our new system, no one should fall victim to purchasing a stolen vehicle or be entangled with security agencies over issues related to vehicle crimes.
“The good part is that time duration doesn’t affect VehicleCheck effectiveness or override the status of a vehicle. Be it five or six years later, a stolen-flagged vehicle remains so until it changes; therefore, it remains recoverable.
“Those interested in using our platform should click on get “started” from the home page, and they will be redirected to the services listing page. On the services page, they should choose ‘Vehicle Information Service’ from the list of services dropdown. After that, they should enter the vehicle’s VIN or registered number plate to proceed, accept our terms and conditions, and click ‘next’. Thereafter, users can access the vehicle’s information and check the status of its license registrations and ownerships.
“We are happy to introduce this innovation because we know that it will reduce car theft and other vehicle related crimes, ensure that there is a centralised nationwide vehicle information.”
Though a 2018 report by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) showed that there were at least 11,869,800 registered vehicles in Nigeria, experts believe the figure was is higher today, especially with many smuggled automobiles not adequately captured in the government’s database.
