A retired senior police officer claims that a real-time tracking platform, originally designed to assist the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in solving criminal cases, was misappropriated by politicians.
According to Vanguard, the unnamed former officer reported that the tracking system, intended for combating kidnapping, was ultimately used to surveil politicians’ “enemies and mistresses.”
In 2015, Solomon Arase, the then Inspector General of Police (IGP), launched an intelligence-led policing initiative and established a tracking platform to enable real-time monitoring of kidnappers’ movements. This system led to several successful operations, including the arrest of five kidnappers involved in the September 2015 abduction of Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
However, the senior police officer quoted by Vanguard stated that subsequent IGPs failed to maintain and modernize the tracking system.
“The priorities of successive IGPs differed significantly. Solomon Arase created the platform during his tenure, which was primarily a technical system for tracking calls,” he explained. “It was set up in the IGP’s office, and only one officer, now an AIG, had access to it.“
The IRT was intended to be the operational arm working with this technical platform. When the technical team obtained information, they would relay it to the IRT to facilitate arrests. Drones and vehicles were acquired for these operations.
“However, the subsequent, less technologically adept IGPs merged the technical platform with the IRT. Instead of using the system for crime prevention, it became a political tool.
“Individuals in the National Assembly and the Villa began using the platform to monitor their adversaries and mistresses.
“Such a system should not have both technical and operational units controlled by a single individual who could be compromised by politicians.
“This marked the beginning of the platform’s decline. It needed oversight from someone with both authority and insight, someone strategically capable.
“The platform required regular renewal and updates with the service provider, but this was never prioritized by the successive IGPs.
“They had the funds to pay for the accumulated subscription fees but chose not to. Leaving a system unattended for over a year necessitates recalibration, as technology continually evolves.
“You cannot expect a system set up today to function effectively for a decade without upgrades. Eventually, the system broke down, the police tracking equipment became less functional, and ultimately, it went comatose.
“Specifically, the tracker ceased to function due to unpaid subscriptions and the failure to engage the relevant company for necessary system upgrades.”
The former officer added that the company responsible for maintaining and upgrading the tracking platform withdrew its services after the police neglected to pay subscription fees for approximately three years.
