Afeez Hanafi
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 will linger in the minds of workers at a pharmaceutical store on Old Ife Road, Ibadan, Oyo State. Around 8.40pm on that day, two robbers captured in a four-minute Closed Circuit Television footage had stormed the facility. In a split second, one of them – a tall young man in an overall black sportswear – brought out a gun tucked in the inner pocket of his clothes while the other, clad in black jean trousers and a white T-shirt, brandished a firearm he had wrapped in a black polythene bag.
The man in the white T-shirt swiftly filched a phone on the counter before joining his accomplice to ransack the drawers where they stole some cash; perhaps all that the store made from sales for the day.
As they were about to leave, a customer holding a naira note came in. It was not clear from the video whether the boy was also robbed. The workers consequently paced up and down, lamenting their losses.
The case was said to have been reported at the Agugu Police Station but more than five months after, the suspects have yet to be arrested.
“I am not aware that any robbery captured by CCTV was reported to the police,” the spokesperson for the police in the state, Olugbenga Fadeyi, told our correspondent who contacted him on Monday for an update on the case.
CCTV has been found to be highly resourceful in crime detection, prevention and tracking of criminals and has assisted in reducing crime rates, especially in advanced countries like the United Kingdom.
Although security agencies in Nigeria have equally resolved a couple of criminal cases via images of suspects captured by the CCTV, a number of scenarios like the Ibadan incident have remained unresolved due largely to poor image resolutions of the footage and lack of central database system in the country to unearth suspects’ details.
Around 12.30am on May 16, 2020, a gang of six robbers armed with cutlasses were caught on camera scaling the fence to gain entrance into a residence in Abuja. On getting to the premises, one of them kicked a door on the ground floor open and ransacked the room but could not find anyone therein.
Afterwards, two of them took turns to kick the door leading to the next floor of the building. They eventually left the compound disappointed as they were unable to break the door.
“I know of them. His name is Abubakar,” someone speaking in the background of the four minute-eight-second footage said.
On November 4, around 8pm, at a popular supermarket in Lekki Phase 1, a 32-second viral video revealed the moment a man broke the windscreen of a Toyota Rav 4 parked on the premises next to his car.
He hurriedly stole a bag from the vehicle, flung it into his car and drove off immediately. Neither his face nor the car number plate was visible in the clip.
The police could not confirm whether the suspects involved in the two cases – in Abuja and Lagos – have been arrested or not.
But investigators were ‘lucky’ enough to have easily established the complicity of some staff members of a new generation bank in Oye Ekiti attacked on November 21, 2019 by robbers who reportedly fled with over N25m.
Two persons, a policeman and a seven-year-old girl, were killed in the attack.
The next day, the state Commissioner of Police, Asuquo Amba, disclosed that CCTV footage recovered from the bank showed officials stealing money from the vault a few minutes before the incident.
Amba said, “What baffles me is that there was a nexus between the robbers and insiders in the banking premises. The Oye Police Division is about one or two poles from here. It was the first point of attack. The bankers confirmed that they heard the shots and it took about 10 minutes before the robbers arrived at the bank from there.
“Within the period, there were some activities that went on inside the bank. It is either there was strict connivance, or that the bank officials took advantage to carry out their own intention which an investigation would prove. Between the time the robbers attacked our men and the time the robbery took place, the staff had enough time to escape through the exit door. They were captured by CCTV moving in and out of the vault. The vault was even open before the robbers came.
“Despite the opportunity, none of them made efforts to escape, they were stuffing money and there is evidence to prove this. The staff opened the vault by 3:05pm and the robbers blew up the security door at 3:12pm, this gave a strong suspicion that there was internal collaboration in this matter. A carton containing N2m was hidden under the table within the banking hall. This should be part of the loot from the strong room.”
More unresolved CCTV footages
In October 2019, a man was caught on CCTV stealing jewellery reportedly worth N1.6m in a shop in Abuja.
The shared footage detailed moments the suspect walked into the shop and stole the jewellery. The shop attendant, a woman, had presented a collection of jewellery to the pretentious customer to pick from. After choosing a piece of jewellery, she went for the measuring scale to weigh it so she could tell him its cost.
Within the short intervening period, the corporately-dressed man quickly picked another item from the jewellery on display and concealed it in his pocket.
Fortunately, his “sharp movement” sent a signal to the attendant that something was amiss. She checked through the spot and discovered that a piece of jewellery was missing.
She said she mustered up the courage to challenge him to bring out the item and he did, adding that he would have walked away with the jewellery worth N1.6m if she had not been observant.
Also on May 29, 2017, four burglars were caught on camera removing the burglar proof bars to gain entrance into a building in the Apo area of Abuja.
The clip, which lasted five minutes and 12 seconds, showed the thieves jumping into an office after successfully pulling down the burglary protector. From the CCTV footage, the crime took place at 2.23am.
More than two years later, the Managing Director of an Abuja-based security company, Loricatus International Nigeria Limited, Mr Omotosho Dada-Joel, who posted the video on Facebook, told Sunday PUNCH that the police have yet to arrest the suspects.
Dada-Joel in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday identified the attacked building as an automobile company, adding that the burglars carted away the company’s valuables.
He said, “Till now, I have not heard anything about them being arrested. I expected something of that nature that was why I went that far to do that (circulate the video). I reported at two police stations and I was expecting that they would call me. I wouldn’t know why they did not investigate it. Maybe they are expecting the complainant to mobilise (give them some money to aid investigation) them.
“Thank God the damage was not really much. They destroyed the entrance and stole a laptop where all the company’s data was stored. They also took away some handy equipment and money.”
Similarly, in September 2017, some robbers who broke into a supermarket in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State were caught on a CCTV camera during the operation. Photos of the thieves looting the shop were shared online to create awareness and facilitate their arrest but till date, there is no evidence that the law has caught up with them even though their faces were apparent.
Nigeria’s failed CCTV project
In the wake of growing insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory, the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua-led administration initiated the National Public Security Communication System, otherwise known as the CCTV project, worth $470m.
The project which commenced in August 2010 was awarded to a Chinese company, ZTE Nigeria Limited, with a loan of $399.5m provided by the Chinese Exim Bank.
Targeted at tackling terrorism, armed robberies, kidnapping and other violent crimes, the project was billed for completion within a year to provide audio, video and data information for use by the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies.
But 10 years on, crimes NPSCS was meant to solve have festered as a result of alleged corruption in which the project was shrouded. It was claimed that most of the installed cameras were either not working or of low quality. The cameras were also said to be present only in Three Arms Zone housing the Presidential Villa, the National Assembly Complex and the Supreme Court, with many of them now vandalised.
From 2010 till date, the FCT had come under violent attacks resulting in loss of lives and property worth billions of naira. Among them were the October 1, 2010 bomb explosion which occurred some metres from the Three Arms Zone and the June 16, 2011 suicide bombing at the police headquarters park shortly after the convoy of the then Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, drove into the complex.
Two persons trying to prevent the bomber from driving the explosive-laden vehicle into the main building were killed and many vehicles burnt.
Barely two months later, on August 26, 2011, another suicide bomber rammed a car into the United Nations building along the Diplomatic Drive in Abuja, killing about 20 persons.
On April 14, 2012, twin explosions rocked the Nyanya Motor Park, claiming 71 lives and leaving over 100 persons with varying degrees of injuries.
There was another bomb explosion on June 24, 2012 at Emab Plaza in Abuja with about 20 persons reportedly killed.
In all of these attacks and more, there was no known instance of the CCTV picking the suspects’ faces during the act.
In July 2014, the House of Representatives resolved to probe the contract, noting that though the project had been completed and handed over to the government since 2012, “no criminal activity has ever been detected through the security cameras.”
However, no one has yet to be held responsible or punished for the failure of the multi-million-dollar project amid heightened insecurity in the country.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives in February 2020 passed for second reading, a bill seeking to make installation of CCTV compulsory for private offices and buildings.
Sponsored by a member representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, the proposal is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Make Provision for the Integration of Private Closed-Circuit Television Infrastructure into the National Security Network in Nigeria.’
It recommends that owners of buildings without CCTV cameras may be fined between N500,000 and N1m.
Abiante said, “The broad objective of this bill is to expand the security network infrastructure in Nigeria with a view to protecting the lives and property of its citizens.”
The bill states that every private organisation in Nigeria shall within six months the Act comes into effect install CCTV within and outside its premises with a view to maintaining perimeter security in medium-high secure areas and installations; observing behaviour of people in order to detect criminal activities within and outside the geographical location of the company; identifying criminal(s) within a reasonable time frame; providing adequate evidence for use in court; and obtaining a visual record of activities in situations where it is necessary to maintain proper security or access control.
On investigation and prosecution of crime, the bill proposes that, “All private companies in Nigeria shall apply or inform the Commissioner of Police in its area of jurisdiction about the installation of the CCTV within and outside its premises.
“This Act grants access to private companies’ CCTV by the police and the courts during the course of investigation and trial of suspected criminals.”
On defaulters and penalties, the bill proposes that “Any company or organisation in Nigeria that refuses, out of neglect, to install CCTV camera within and outside its premises is liable to a fine of at least N500,000 or an imprisonment of six months or both. Continual refusal to install CCTV camera shall attract a fine of at least N1m or a year imprisonment or both.
“Where there is a complaint of missing of items, lives and property, and the company/organisation within the complaint area is unable to make its CCTV available to the law enforcement agents during the course of its investigation, such company/organisation shall be liable for negligence and charged as an accomplice of the crime.”
However, how soon the bill would be passed to law and implemented to the letter in a country like Nigeria notorious for bureaucratic delay and poor enforcement remains to be seen.
State govt CCTV projects
Being Nigeria’s economic capital, the Lagos State Government announced that it would install 13,000 CCTV cameras as well as 6,000 streetlights across the state in 2016 for surveillance, crime prevention and handling of emergencies across the state.
So far, only part of the initiative – mobile CCTV managed by the Rapid Response Squad – has been implemented.
A pickpocket was arrested with the aid of the mobile CCTV in April 2016 when it was being test-run in the Oshodi area of the state but nothing has been heard of its success rate since then.
In May 2017, the then Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Olufemi Odubiyi, blamed the delay in the procurement of high definition CCTV cameras on instability in the foreign exchange market.
At an event on July 8, 2019 organised by the Eko Innovation Centre in conjunction with Acumen and African Venture Philanthropy Alliance, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu reiterated that the state government planned to install CCTV cameras around the city to check insecurity.
The governor, represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, said his administration recognised the role of technology in fighting crime in a fast-growing economy like Nigeria.
He said, “We will be installing cameras in different parts of the state. These are cameras that are so sensitive such that if they hear the sound of a gun, they will turn around and capture your identity. You can be assured that if you are a criminal, we will come for you and get you arrested.”
Speaking to our correspondent during the week, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, said the project had commenced with the underground laying of broadband fibre cables across the state to enhance Internet connectivity.
“Once we have this kind of facility, the CCTV will be easier to install everywhere,” he added.
However, as against the initial plan to install 13,000 cameras, Omotoso said about 670 cameras would be installed in strategic locations across the state, adding that the phase one of the project had commenced and would be completed next year.
He stated, “If we have that kind of camera, it can show in real time at the headquarters of the security agencies and they can see what is going on in public places.
“Almost all the traffic lights being installed now have cameras. It is getting to a point now that an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority does not need to be physically involved in apprehending traffic offenders because the cameras will be doing all of that.”
In the same vein, the Kano State Government on September 23, 2020 promised to install 5,000 CCTV cameras across the metropolis to mitigate crime.
The Managing Director of Safe State, the technology company in charge of the project, Mr Onyedika Ugochuckwu, told TVC News on Sep 23, 2020 that the cameras would be installed on roads, streets and markets and would operate round the clock.
He explained, “The scope of the project involves installations of cameras in all the junctions, streets, roads, markets, roundabouts and everywhere that is of interest in Kano. First of all (the cameras will be installed) within the metropolitan area, then the rest of the state.
“The idea is to provide 24-7 first responder emergency services for the good people of Kano State. The objective of the governor with this project is to improve security. If you look around, you will discover there is a lot of insecurity in the country.”
As of the press time, Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Mba, had yet to reply to our correspondent’s enquiry on the extent at which the police had been able to use CCTV to solve crime and the challenges faced in using footage to track suspects.
CCTV: A success in the UK
The United Kingdom has one of the largest CCTV networks in the world estimated at between four to 5.9 million cameras in both private and public places across the country, according to the British Security Industry Association.
A recent research by CCTV.co.uk states that there is one CCTV camera to every 13 people in London, “meaning there are now 691,000 CCTV cameras in London.”
“These numbers may send shivers down the spine of those worried about state monitoring; however, it appears that the government controls less than four per cent of the total CCTV cameras in the UK – most are just homeowners protecting their property,” an official from CCTV.co.uk, James Ritchey, submitted.
Coupled with a standard database system, CCTV is said to have significantly led to crime reduction in the UK.
A 2017 report published in European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research indicated that the UK investigators had meaningfully deployed CCTV footage to fight crimes.
Titled ‘The Value of CCTV Surveillance Cameras as an Investigative Tool: An Empirical Analysis,’ the report stated that out of 251,195 crimes recorded by British Transport Police on the British railway network between 2011 and 2015, CCTV was available to investigators in 45 per cent of the cases and found useful in 29 per cent instances. That is about 65 per cent success rate out of occasions in which clips were available.
“Although this research was limited to offences on railways, it appears that CCTV is a powerful investigative tool for many types of crime,” it added.
Uganda, Kenya making progress
Interestingly, some African countries like Kenya and Uganda have also achieved relative progress in deploying CCTVs to curtail crime.
The Ugandan government, for instance, was in collaboration with a Chinese-based technology company, Huawei, to install CCTV across the country 2019.
According to a report, the Ugandan police claimed $126m had been spent on a CCTV system that uses facial recognition and other artificial intelligence software provided by the company to fight surging violent crimes in the country.
In Kampala, the metropolitan capital of Uganda, about 2,500 of the planned 3,200 cameras had been reportedly installed, with plans to extend the system installation to all major towns in the country later.
Although the opposition parties had raised concerns that the surveillance cameras were targeted to spy on political rivals, their usefulness in crime fighting cannot be overemphasised.
The Chinese company was also said to have installed 1,800 HD cameras and 200 HD traffic surveillance systems in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city in 2015 to fight terrorism and other violent crimes.
Immediately after the January 15, 2019 Al-Shabaab attack on a hotel in Nairobi, the CCTV system alerted first responders and operatives were dispatched to vital locations through real-time tracking, thereby preventing terrorists from wreaking more havoc, a police officer, David Mwangi, had told Africa Times.
It was also said that the Internet Crime Complaint Center located and retraced the attackers’ vehicle and in less than 24 hours, all the assailants had been neutralised.
Experts lament poor camera quality, database, others
The President, National Association of Criminologists and Security Practitioners, Mr Williams Ekposon, maintained that CCTV could assist in reducing crime rates in Nigeria if effectively deployed. To achieve this, he noted that there must be a working central database system, actionable policy statements, stable power supply, among others.
He said, “The problem we need to address is the policy issue surrounding the use of CCTV in Nigeria. How is it being regulated and how is the information captured by it being honoured as evidence in the court of law? Courts admit CCTV footage as evidence but it has not been incorporated in the constitution. If such a case gets to the Supreme Court, it may be thrown out because it is not constitutional-based.
“Another challenge posed to CCTV in Nigeria is power failure. It needs a stable power supply to run. High cost of these cameras is also a problem. Some of them, especially those that are licenced IPR cameras that can store information on the Internet, are of high cost.
“Technicality is another challenge. Do we have enough experts who are highly skilled in the installation and monitoring of CCTV? Then comes the issues of a central database. In a situation where the person captured in the image cannot be easily identified, the central database becomes a challenge. Nigeria does not have a central database system; a central biometric system of the population.”
Ekposon urged the government to ensure that biometrics of Nigerians are captured in the next census, saying that with the aid of a central database system, images captured in CCTV could be synchronised to get details of the suspects.
“Thereafter, the suspect can be tracked either through their phone number or address captured in the database,” he added.
Chairman, Apex Safety and Security Consultants, Mr Mike Ejiofor, emphasised that CCTV is a veritable investigative tool if properly explored.
He observed that the majority of cameras in public places such as supermarkets are of low quality, resulting in blurred images of suspects.
Ejiofor, a former director, Department of State Services, also called on the Federal Government to investigate the corruption behind the failed $470 CCTV project in Abuja.
He said, “First of all, we don’t have data, let alone a database. For instance, the population of Nigeria is said to be about 206 million, based on estimation. Nobody counted us to arrive at that figure. The CCTV serves as a link to investigation. If you have footage and database, you can match the faces.
“Also, for most of the footage we have in Nigeria, because of the low quality of the cameras, it is hard to identify the suspect. Organisations must install high quality cameras.
“We have a long way to go. You can’t fight terrorism without advanced technology. We have not even started. We must learn to get our act together. Let us know our population. However, with BVN, voter cards, driving licence, among others, we can start from that point by harmonising all of them in one base. For now, it is very uncoordinated.”
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