A senior police officer, now retired, has revealed that the real-time tracking technological platform, which once played a crucial role in helping the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) crack numerous criminal cases, was eventually misused by politicians to monitor “enemies and mistresses.” The officer made this disclosure while responding to Vanguards inquiry about what went wrong with the system designed to track kidnappers’ locations and intercept calls for prompt arrests and the rescue of abducted victims.
The police launched intelligence-led policing in 2015 with the installation of a tracking device by the then-Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase. This device was initially mounted in the IGPs office and was intended to help the Intelligence Response Team monitor kidnappers in real time, allowing them to stay one step ahead.
“This device also helped investigators analyze the locations and patterns of calls made by the kidnappers, the routes, and potential safe houses,”
the retired officer explained. “In addition, the device provided valuable evidence, such as call records, location data, and communication patterns, to build a strong case against the kidnappers.”
One notable case highlighted by the officer was the arrest of five kidnappers involved in the abduction of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae. The officer recounted, “Immediately the kidnappers removed the SIM card used to negotiate, we knew where they were and intercepted them at the last bridge to Minna.
The ransom money they collected was still in the boot and the SIM card. Five of them were arrested. The motorcycle they used to convey Chief Olu Falae was retrieved. The N5 million ransom was marked by the bank. They removed only N100,000 from it.
The kidnappers were sentenced to life imprisonment.” When asked what went wrong with the system, the retired officer attributed it to the shifting priorities of successive Inspectors General of Police. “The priority of successive IGPs was quite different. Solomon Arase set up the platform when he was the IGP.
It was a technical platform to track calls,” he said.
“It was mounted in the IGPs office then and only one officer, who is now an AIG, had access to the technical platform
” The officer further elaborated on how the platform’s purpose was distorted under subsequent leadership: “The Intelligence Response Team, IRT, was supposed to be the operational wing that would work with the technical platform.
When the technical team got information, it would pass it to IRT to go to the location and make an arrest. Drones and vehicles were bought for the operation. But successive IGPs who were analogues didnt know what to do. They merged the technical platform and IRT.
Instead of the platform being used for crime prevention, it became political.” “People in the National Assembly and Villa got hold of the platform and used it to track their enemies and mistresses,” the officer added. “For such a platform, you dont give both the technical and the operational units to just one person who would be compromised by politicians.
That was the beginning of the collapse of the platform. It requires someone with power and intelligence; someone of a strategic level who is keen on that line.” The officer also noted that the platform’s functionality deteriorated due to a lack of maintenance and updates.
“This platform was supposed to be renewed and hooked up with the service provider. But that was never the priority of successive IGPs. They had money to pay for the accumulated subscription but they refused to pay.
When you leave such a system for more than one year, it requires recalibration. This technology keeps evolving.” “You cant say something you set up today will be used the same way for 10 years without being upgraded. Before long, the system broke down, and the functionality of the police tracking equipment began to diminish and subsequently went comatose,” he said.
The tracker, particularly, became non-functional due to non-subscription as well as failure to engage the relevant company to carry out required system upgrades.
The officer also explained that the lack of payment for subscription fees led to the systems eventual shutdown. “Due to the failure to pay subscription fees for about three years, and after a grace period had expired, the company overseeing its maintenance and upgrade decided to withdraw its services.
This made it difficult to track bandits, kidnappers, and other forms of violent crimes.” However, Saturday Vanguard gathered that the present IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, has reactivated the tracking device.
Despite this reactivation, alongside the tracking devices of the DSS and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), kidnappers continue to evade capture in many parts of the country. Additionally, the report touched on the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) stance on the NIN-SIM linkage deadline, aimed at cleaning up the country’s SIM ownership database.
A top official at the commission, speaking anonymously, stated, “Yes, we were adamant on the deadline of the NIN-SIM linkage because of several dangerous security trends we discovered. Our resolve hinged on the need to close in on the chaos of untoward ownership of multiple SIM cards with unverified NIN details.
We had instances where a single individual had over 10,000 lines linked to his NIN. In some cases, we have seen a single person with 1,000 lines, some 3,000 plus lines. What were they doing with these lines?” “From our interim findings, the owners of these lines did not purchase them for decent purposes or to undertake legitimate activities.
We gave them enough time to make the decision of which of their lines they wanted to keep and discard the others. They did not. All lines in this category with unverified NINs were barred.” The official added, “On the issue of kidnappers making calls to victims families without being traced, I dont think that power is residual in our hands.
What we know is that whatever support the security agents have sought from us, as far as the national security question is concerned, we have always given to the best of our ability. Our duty is not to track and arrest people who make calls rightly or wrongly.”
A reliable satellite engineer at the Nigerian Communications Satellite Company (NIGCOMSAT Ltd), also speaking anonymously, clarified misconceptions about the capabilities of the satellite system.
“One of the misconceptions about our satellite is people believing that it will snap photos or record videos of crime scenes and send them to security agents, but that is not how it works.”
“Although NigComSat -1R is a communications satellite, it is not equipped with cameras.
It gathers data and digital footprints which, on demand, we usually make available to security agencies that can also read and interpret them effectively.
So people should not think that because crimes are happening unabated, the satellite is not working or performing its duties,” the engineer added”
