The inspector-general of police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has flagged off the official training programme for operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on the newly developed criminal database systems, describing the initiative as a milestone in the nation’s policing architecture and a bold step into a new era of intelligence-driven law enforcement.
IGP Egbetokun, while speaking at the event hend at the Force headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, said the database was not merely a collection of electronic records but “the memory of our justice system and the heartbeat of intelligence-led policing.”
He stressed that the new system would revolutionise the way the Police track, record, and analyse criminal activity across jurisdictions.
Accrording to him, “They will help us track repeat offenders across jurisdictions, detect patterns of crime, and share intelligence seamlessly across divisions, zones, and headquarters. They will strengthen prosecutions, support judges with credible records, and integrate Nigeria into global systems like INTERPOL. In short, these databases will become the nervous system of Nigerian policing in the 21st century.”
He charged operatives undergoing the training to ensure they learn well as the training is of critical national importance to their new roles.
“You will be the custodians of Nigeria’s crime data. Every case you enter, every record you preserve, every link you verify, will strengthen justice in our nation. You are not merely handling files; you are safeguarding the future,” he said, warning that their accuracy, diligence, and vigilance could make the difference between criminals escaping justice or being convicted.
The IGP also described the launch of the criminal database systems as part of the Force’s broader police reform agenda, aimed at ending decades of weak records, scattered files, and fragmented intelligence that have often hampered effective policing.
He added that improved record-keeping would also restore public trust in the Police, noting that, “When citizens know their complaints are properly recorded, when they see follow-through in investigations, their confidence in the Police grows. Trust begins with record-keeping.”
