‘Nigeria Police Have No Criminal Database’ — Lawyer Explains How Criminals Can Take Advantage

• A human rights lawyer says the Nigeria Police Force does not have a database for criminal records.

• He says the consequence is that the police are not able to track criminals across states.

• The counsel alleges that the failure to digitise the system is intentional by the police.

Eko Hot Blog reports that Ridwan Oke, the Principal Partner at Iris Attorneys, a Lagos-based law firm, has criticised the police for not creating a national database that contains criminal records.

The lawyer made the criticism in a scathing social media post on Thursday while reacting to the launch of the improved cybercrime reporting portal of the police.

According to Oke, if the police arrest a suspect in one state, there is no way for another state command to know the status of the suspect because the force runs a fully analog system.

The human rights lawyer, who bemoaned the archaic way of operation, further lamented that the police do not have any database that provides for the details of persons in their custody, their age, offence, where they were arrested and when.

Hence, a suspect who has committed a crime elsewhere may be counted as a first offender in another place due to no digital trail.

Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun

Oke, who noted that the cybercrime reporting portal is a misplaced priority, alleged that the police are yet to adopt a digital approach to criminal records because it aids their corruption.

“The Police Force as at today do not have a data of everyone arrested nor their previous criminal record if any,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“If Police arrest anyone in Asaba, there’s no way you can know in Lagos because they still run a strictly analog system.

“If you enter the system, it’s easy to get lost. You can be looking for someone for several years but they are with the Police but the same Police in another division will help declare them missing.

“The NPF do not have any software that provides for the details of persons in their custody, their age, offence, where they were arrested and when.

“If you steal a car in Lagos and get caught and you’re lucky to still get released, you can proceed and steal another car in Ogun state and unless someone recognizes you, you can still claim ‘first offender’ simply because there’s no data.

“Ask the NPF today, how many people they have in their custody nationwide, they simply don’t know. That’s the policing system we currently run

“Having a portal to report ‘cybercrime’ is not necessarily the issue but the fact that we don’t ever get the priorities right.

“Also, it shows that the refusal of the Police force to actually digitize the system is intentional as it will prevent them from continuing the usual corruption.

“Lastly, stifling free speech is easy to do than stopping crimes.”

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