The police high command yesterday said the lack of a database for Nigerians and foreign nationals in the country is one of the reasons organised crimes like terrorism, drug-related crimes, human trafficking and others thrive in Nigeria.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, stated this in Abuja during a two-day international symposium organised by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch.
Egbetokun, represented by Alex Abba, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, spoke when making his remarks as a panel discussant.
According to the top cop, a proper and clean database alone could solve all categories of crimes that have bedevilled the nooks and crannies of the country.
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“Our database is as good as nothing. With data alone, crimes, this issue of terrorism and all sorts can be brought to the barest minimum,” he said.
The IGP also bemoaned a situation where Nigerians are captured by all service providers each time they need to enroll for data capturing when registering for SIM.
In the same vein, the representative of AIG Garba Umar (retd), Vice President of INTERPOL, disclosed that there had been no fingerprint capturing for all suspects arrested internationally for one crime or the other.
He explained that organised crimes would continue to thrive if the sponsors were not arrested and prosecuted, saying arresting foot soldiers alone won’t curb the criminalities.
The programme was supported by MacArthur Foundation and has Daily Trust, INTERPOL, CJID, ONSA, Ministry of Interior, EFCC, Analytics for a Better World, AANI, Rule of Law Empowerment Initiatives and ANEEJ as partners.
