Security: Nigeria Needs Technology-based Policing Law, Says Arase

The Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PS ), Mr. Solomon Arase, has advocated for a law that will introduce a technology-based policing system in the country.

He stated that the current wave of insecurity and trends require a law to enforce the installation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in every estate, market, high-brow area, city, among others.

The former Inspector General of Police (IGP), who spoke to LEADERSHIP at the Anambra State Police Command headquarters, Amawbia, where he inspected the recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Police Force, said that no country can ever recruit enough police manpower needed for the adequate security of lives and property in the area.

Reacting to the police recruitment exercise, the PSC boss expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise nationwide, saying that in all the states he visited, he observed a deliberate collaboration between the personnel of the various state police commands and PSC in carrying out the exercise in the most transparent manner.

He, however, stated that the challenges of providing effective and adequate policing of lives and property no longer depend on the number of manpower but require technology policing facilities.

He said, “You see modern policing is not determined by the number of men you have on the boat. You also have the issue of bringing in technology to assist. It is getting to the time when Nigeria should start thinking about introducing technology in dealing with issues of crime and criminality.

“I give you an example. If you are building a housing estate in Awka, for example, you will expect that the prerequisite for building that estate should be that the estate should have a CCTV camera.

“If you are building a shopping mall, it must have a CCTV camera. So, there must be legislation to say when you are building a massive structure, you have to complement it with government platforms. That is the way to go. We can never have enough police manpower to police a state; no country or nation has ever done that, but the idea is that you must complement it with technology. That’s the way to go.”

He stated that the just-concluded police recruitment exercise was just to complete the shortfall from last year’s figure, and said that the recruitment of an additional 30,000 police personnel had already been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that the exercise would commence later.

He said the recruitment would be carried out in batches.

He emphasized the introduction of a community policing policy that would involve every member of the society, including groups like the traders association, road transport workers union (NURTW), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), giving credible information to security agencies concerning crimes and criminalities.