Insecurity: Installation of Technological Devices Way out, Senator Tells FG

By Deji Elumoye

Chairman of the Senate committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Senator Gershom Bassey, has advised the federal government to ensure the installation of technological devices like close circuit cameras in strategic public places if it wants to curb insecurity challenges including kidnapping facing the nation.
The ranking Senator who represents Cross River South senatorial district in the National Assembly told reporters at the weekend that government should go ahead to acquire
the technological devices to reduce kidnapping significantly adding that “in Nigerian states, where technology has been introduced, kidnapping has been virtually eliminated like in my State, Cross River, same with other crimes.”
According to him, human factor model of policing or securing communities has become outdated and ineffective as being experienced in Nigeria as far as Boko Haram insurgency, armed banditry, kidnapping and outright community invasions by gang of criminals masquerading as herders are concerned.
He posited that although the Police as presently constituted in Nigeria, is grossly underfunded and incapacitated in terms of insignificant number of personnels to the population of Nigerians , but if the required technological devices like functional close circuit cameras in strategic areas, helicopters for hounding of criminals in the jungles or forests as well as tracking mechanisms are put in place , crimes and criminalities will reduced.
Gershom further buttressed his point saying “you don’t see or hear of kidnapping in many countries, why? It’s because of technology. Once you have the technology, kidnapping becomes extremely difficult”.
While supporting the call for the establishment of State Police with Nigeria being a federation, he however said urgent actions urgently required include putting in place the needed technology by government at all levels and in particular the federal government , carrying out massive recruitment into the federal Police whose personnel both officers and men, are less than 400, 000 now, to a population of about 200million people.
The Senator also identified adequate funding as another urgent step needed to be taken by the federal government for the Nigeria Police Force as well as other security outfits to excel in their bid to fight insecurity in the country.
His words: “There is no doubt whether we have state, federal or local police, they must be properly funded. Nigeria is under-policed, we are far below the international standard when it comes to the ratio of police to citizens. We need to recruit more police. Second, we need to fund not just our police but our security agencies. Like some of my colleagues were saying on the floor of the Senate that we need to have an emergency in security, that emergency must include funding, like the federal government is doing for COVID-19. But in the meantime, Nigerians are having problem, so let’s address the problem now. If today we have an emergency in security, then we can quickly allocate fund, recruit the personnel and acquire the technology needed within few months”.
Gershom added that as a way of fighting insecurity through empowerment of the youth, the social intervention programme is a good idea but needs to be well implemented.
He said much as he supports the intervention programme, government should come out clean with its implementation across the 36 states of the federation and Abuja.
According to him, those responsible for the programme implementation should move with speed in disbursing funds to people so that they can feel the impact.