By AbdulSalam Muhammad

KANO — The immediate past Inspector General of police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has declared that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was desirous for effective modern day policing.

The former police boss who delivered a power point presentation at one day lecture for selected members of security agencies in the north west said “the police need to be ahead of criminals to thwart their nefarious activities”.

In the paper titled “ICT-An Enabler for Effective Policing, Mr Solomon Arase said that “policing has become scientifically-driven and dynamic, and therefore response to crimes should also be dynamic and scientific through deployment of ICT”.

Arase, who at the one day seminar organized by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) recounted how ICT was deployed during his tenure as Inspector General of police to track down criminals, stressed the need to maximize it for policing.

Arase who is the Managing Director of Solar Security and Consult, said “United Kingdom has over 4.8million CCTV cameras to complement the manpower, and we have to invest on such areas to beat down crime and criminality”.

The former IGP revealed that “deployment of ICT led to the arrest of fugitive that fled from UK to Nigeria after he committed a heinous crime and was subsequently repatriated”.

Arase said: “Most law enforcement officers do not know the work and efficacy of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). We have not been able to harness the advantage of ICT in Nigeria.

“It is not that the Nigerian police are not capable to deal with crimes and criminals, but they simply need the application of the technology.”

The former IGP further stated that, “it is no longer feasible to arrest suspects, offenders and start looking for evidence, and of course the reverse is the case in modern day policing.”

In his address, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone One, Ibrahim Adamu, commended the effort by NCC in trying to incorporate into the work of security agencies, an ICT engagement.

The IGP lamented that the use of unregistered SIM Cards was a serious challenge to the national security, of which he commended the NCC of doing its best to curb the menace.

“NCC has done tremendously well in mopping up the dealers of unregistered SIM Cards. We must chart a new course in the fight against crimes and criminals, ” he advocated.

Prof. Umar Garba Dambatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, assured that, the Commission would continue to collaborate with the security agencies in fighting for a better and safer Nigeria.

The programme was attended by many security agents comprising police, customs, including lawyers amongst others.