Police IGP Says Force Lacks Adequate Capacity to Deploy Technology to Fight Crimes

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun has said the force is facing acute funding crisis in the deployment of digital policing to cope with crimes in the country.

Egbetokun stated this on Tuesday at a seminar organized by the Nigerian Institution of Social and Economic Research on digital policing in Abuja.

He said the police force has not been able to achieve much in term of digital policing due to the shortage of drones and lack of skilled manpower to fight crimes through technology.

The police chief represented at the seminar by Oyo state police commissioner, Adebola Hamzat, said police force requires more drones and experts who could handle digital tools.

According to him, Now we are going to fill in the gaps. The choice of Lagos and Oyo for this research was not appropriate because when you want to develop reforms, it starts from the headquarters.

The Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and the Force Department of Investigation are the pioneers.

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What we need to do now is to start talking to research institutes like NISER on how to escalate intellectual discussion on what the Police are really doing.

If these researchers had spoken directly with the journalist’s personnel in the system, they would actually understand, it would help in filling the gaps.

But we are glad that we are here and we will fill the lacuna, Arase posited.

In her opening remark, NISER’s Director-General, Professor Antonia Simbine stated that global attention has shifted away from the traditional and reactive approach of policing crimes to a proactive approach which entails the deployment of digital technology.

This, she said is critical because the issue of insecurity in the country has become a serious cause for concern with grave consequences for human safety and debilitating effect on productivity and sustained economic growth and development.

The lead presenter, Dr. Peter Tomoloju, a Research Fellow in the Social Policy Department, NISER, also revealed that deployment of digital technologies in policing will enhance the security of the police and that of the citizens discouraging crime for the fear of detection and arrest.