The job of a journalist I should say is a very difficult one, filing among soldiers in the battle front and even venturing into the enemy camp to scoop stories for hungry readers like you, yes you to read. This can best describe my experience when I heard that there was a robbery going on at FAGBA near Ogba/Agege (depending on which one you are familiar with) in Ijaiye LGA, Lagos. This happened between 9.40am and 10.15am, the target was Union Bank of Nigeria PLC. The robbery which went on unhindered as usual, though a two or three police stations are just a sound distance away from the scene of the crime. Gun shots were fired indiscriminately leaving all and sundry with their hearts in their mouth, the whole area was like a war zone. It left three people dead that I can confirm; one of the bank guards, a motor mechanic close to the bank was killed and another little boy at Fagba junction. The Bank manager was also shot with several others but I can't confirm their condition. On a lighter note 15mins after the robbery an old vehicles exhaust pipe made some noise every body went for their lives.  As I was about leaving the place a police armoured tanker was driving towards the scene, trust Nigerians, they were booed.

A comprehensive camera based security system is needed if we need to tackle crime. That way, even after any robbery the faces of the robbers would appear on all major newspapers and TVs.

@ Afam
That's really true

We have graduates of engineering al over the place, to recruit them for the installation, that way we will be solving the unemployment problems. I heard that there are three girls among them

Afam:

A comprehensive camera based security system is needed if we need to tackle crime. That way, even after any robbery the faces of the robbers would appear on all major newspapers and TVs.

If area boys can harvest street lights in Nigerian cities with impunity and often in broad daylight, then I doubt street surveillance cameras will last longer than a few nights after they have been installed . Yes, the London UK model of total street surveillance does deter crime and help track down offenders, but all that expensive camera gear will be too tempting a target for Nigeria's resourceful and desperately hungry criminal class, so that expensice video equipment will inevitably wind up on sale at huge discounts in Lagos' Alaba "International" market in short order.

Before we go to the hi tec stuff, how about sorting out the low tech end first.

It might be boring in comparison, but it sure would make a whole load of difference.

My suggestion: The present force is corrupt and compromised and beyond redemption.

What is needed is heavy targeting operated by a specially trained quick response force that would attend to
such matters of violence. They should have helicopters, communications equipment etc.

And considering Nigerians are the most loquacious people on Earth, I see no reason why these gangs cant be infiltrated.
Many of them will have constant hangout sopts, make a lot of noise etc. That make them vulnerable to espionage. Many innocent lives
will be spared if we can preempt some of these crimes.

The only thing stopping us from doing anything about this violence is the lack of political will aside the corruption.

The mundane work of checkpoints and other menial tasks should be left to the present force

Before you talk of any gadgets, low or high tech, we have to have a competent police force. The way the police have been neglected, ill-trained and poorly paid, leaves no room or incentive to do a good job.
It has also been rumoured that the police themselves are sometimes the bandits and or rent their duty weapons to the bandits.

Until you have this well paid and trained officers, all installed gadgets will end up at Alaba markets.
Our Nigerian officers have only been good at collecting money at toll gates or harasing innocent civiilians. A lot of the bad eggs have to be let go, and a lot of new well educated, motivated and well trained officers enlisted.

I once asked a high ranking Nigerian Police officer, if they could hire Nigerian law enforcement officers overseas, to help with taining, aumenting and boost morale among their officers, and I was told that Nigeria will only hire officers who went to their police college only.

In the USA, any police/sheriffs' deputies can go to any city and get employment. Some have even been known to go to different countries and were immediately hired as officers. This hasto do with quality training given at the academies. Besides, officers have yearly in-service training and have to shoot qualify quaterly. The officers are well paid and equiped to do their jobs well.

If Nigerian police officers are trained half as well, better equiped and well paid, they will become better able to perform a credible job in protecting the security of the people.

Installing security cameras with no experts (polise)to monitor, patrol or have the incentive and morale to do a good job, will amount to putting the cart before the horse!!!!!!!!!!!

Camera based security system is not the solution, they can easily be disabled, or the robbers conceal their identities. The real issues needing tackling are poverty first and foremost, then how to curb the proliferation of arms. If those two issues are squarely addressed, and then coupled with a responsive and well trained police force, then we will be able to confront this menace properly.

A properly setup camera based security system will capture, record and store images remotely so whether you are a thief or a police man wanting to remove it your image will be stored in a remote location where it can (and will be) accessed by authorized people.

So, this talk about the cameras ending up in Alaba market is premature and based on the lack of understanding of how a good camera based security system should work.

Train police, pay them, tackle corruption, do this, do that. The way and manner all positive contributions towards making Nigeria a better place are dismissed by even people that should know leaves very little room for imagination.

So, we should wait until poverty is eliminated or police overhauled before attempting to improve the security situation in Nigeria?

I had expected people to raise concerns on the issue of providing power to the gadgets and not asking for mansions to be built in the sky first before the lives of Nigerians can be secured.

Once again, a camera based system will capture and store still images or videos of anything happening within the coverage area and for better functionality storage should be remote. Wireless transmission of the data can be achieved by using GSM data enabled sims.

Technology is meant for man and not man for technology.

Afam:

A comprehensive camera based security system is needed if we need to tackle crime. That way, even after any robbery the faces of the robbers would appear on all major newspapers and TVs.

Its amazing how you consistently fail to see the big picture. Energy conservation is your solution to Nigeria power problem while security cameras are the elixir for armed robberies .

Hey,how about free breast implants as solution for excessively bodily conscious women ?

Afam:

So, we should wait until poverty is eliminated or police overhauled before attempting to improve the security situation in Nigeria?

I had expected people to raise concerns on the issue of providing power to the gadgets and not asking for mansions to be built in the sky first before the lives of Nigerians can be secured.

Once again, a camera based system will capture and store still images or videos of anything happening within the coverage area and for better functionality storage should be remote. Wireless transmission of the data can be achieved by using GSM data enabled sims.

Which is easier? revamping an existing structure or creating something completely foreign to the nation's culture?

I don't need to mention the problems of power and co, they are blatantly obvious, which is more pie in the sky? Creating a wholly new monitoring structure or improving on the existing system.

Me I still maintain that the present force should not be retained in any form except for the most menial tasks.

The hi tec stuff will only come when we address the basics.

But the current deplorable situation needs some quick remedies.

doyin13:

The hi tec stuff will only come when we address the basics.

that succinctly puts it.

Hi tech? Security cameras? Make una no vex ooo, I didn't know that the level of technology appreciation was this low.

Hope you guys wait for the police to be overhauled and poverty eliminated before you even consider measures to protect yourselves and your properties.

hi Tech it is

how much will a centralised CCTV system cost covering all the locations such as banks, eateries and so on cost?

the consistent monitoring, backing up of images, facial recognition software connected to picture databases for comparison. . .the requirements go on

The transmission of signals from the cameras, the hardwiring of redundancies into the system to ensure operation in times of failure of some portions of the system. . .they are numerous

All that without even talking about cost, who will operate the system? who will maintain it?

A country that cannot even sort out simple national ID system should embark on video monitoring to capture people's faces and put on dailies and TV??

People saw the armed robbers today, do you think they will talk? how will seeing the armed robbers on TV and in Newspapers change that instantly?

Simply restoring trust in the police, neighborhood policing, making sure your borders are less porous by enhancing already existing facilities and organisations is much easier than getting cameras. People get caught red handed in crimes today, and still get away the next day, 1 million cameras will not change that.

Even if the Banks put up cameras, how would that stop robberies if the police is not involved?

This is not a matter of technology appreciation or being sophisticated, its finding the true problem and not

debosky:

hi Tech it is

how much will a centralised CCTV system cost covering all the locations such as banks, eateries and so on cost?

the consistent monitoring, backing up of images, facial recognition software connected to picture databases for comparison. . .the requirements go on

The transmission of signals from the cameras, the hardwiring of redundancies into the system to ensure operation in times of failure of some portions of the system. . .they are numerous

All that without even talking about cost, who will operate the system? who will maintain it?

A country that cannot even sort out simple national ID system should embark on video monitoring to capture people's faces and put on dailies and TV??

People saw the armed robbers today, do you think they will talk? how will seeing the armed robbers on TV and in Newspapers change that instantly?

Simply restoring trust in the police, neighborhood policing, making sure your borders are less porous by enhancing already existing facilities and organisations is much easier than getting cameras. People get caught red handed in crimes today, and still get away the next day, 1 million cameras will not change that.

Even if the Banks put up cameras, how would that stop robberies if the police is not involved?

This is not a matter of technology appreciation or being sophisticated, its finding the true problem and not

uumm, you at least need electricity to power all that.

Introducing surveillance camera and other hi-tech stuff should be combined with re-training the police force!

afam has good points in the camara issues but if i may ask, will the camaras and the remote control that will save the images work with light or what?
that is the advance countries's advantage over us but there must be electricity before the camaras can be effective.
this will now take us back to the issue of doing first thing first. camaras before electricity is like putting a round peg in a square hole.
the bible said, seek first the kingdom of God and other things shall be added unto it.
nigeria shld learn to seek power supply and other things that go with development will surely find their ways into nigeria.
the idea of banning imported goods will not worth it if our indigenious companies can produce quality goods at relatively lower prices rather than producing lower qualities at higher prices compare to foriegn goods.
nigerian gov knows the truth but they are still hiding from it. how can we buy goods made in nig at higher prices when foreign goods with better qualities are cheaper, impossible hence the need to force us buy them by banning imported goods but how many of our leaders are using locally manufactured goods?
crime most times are committed in the dark and most of the modern day security gardget are electronics hence the ultimate need for electricity.
the police in under-equiped. the system is corrupt, the gov is not helping matters as the unemployment rate keeps growing day by day, so why won't crime continue to grow?
unfortunately, nobody is caring about the number of lives we are loosing to robbers, accidents etc as a result of the gov policies.
aso rock has become so polluted that armenitions are been imported on daily bases by the same politicians who are stealing public funds. our robbers most of whom are yet to cross the boarders of nig, are using more sophisticated weapons than the national security agents and nobdoy is ask why and how?
it is obvious that nig police had on several occassions intercepted loads of illegal weapons but wonderful telephone calls will always quench the matters with the police man in charge of the matter transfered to one remote area while his boss will take over the case file for good.
even if the camaras are there, as long as aso rock remains the same no positive outcome will be expected of them.
we have believe that most of the crimes in nig are not just accidental, they are mostly planned from a high seat to the executors so we won't be surprised that most of our big time politicians are ring leaders of the common robbers.
i still think we are in a deeper shit

The countries who are able to use CCTV successfully have laid the major ground work for this system to work.
1. They have competent security forces, able to respond to emergencies.
2. They have constant power on demand.
3. They have the staff to maintain the equipment.
4. They have the technological know how to change and adapt any equipment as need be.

Nigeria does not have any of these and the government even if they have seen these things work in other countries, have no will to emulate them. For them to expend any money to buy any equipment or invest in tecnology transfer, it means there will be no money to steal!

The fact is CCTV is not realy high tech, but it needs constant power anda data bank of recognizable faces for it to work effectively. In the USA, you can buy and install it in your house very easily.
Our people also needs the education of becoming criminal intent free and ready to provide information which will arrest any person or criminal act.

This brings us to the police. For an effective security of people and property, you need a good competent, well trained and adequately equiped police force. The countries who are able to gather information and monitor closed caption TVs, have laid this ground work already and this is why it works for them.

Nigeria, does not enjoy a society of maintainance and good management of equipment. In the whole of Lagos, how many traffick lights still work? and it they work atall, who obeys the signals?

It is easy to talk up a simple solution to what we see work in developed nations. what we need to remember is their citizens are very conscious of working in concert with their governments and take pride in ownership of a working society.
Our people need to be educated that if things work well, it is for the benefit of all. Our people will look the other way when they see someone vandalizing a utility pole or some other public property. Instaed of taking action, they may ask for a pay off!
This will not happen a developed country. They will have called the police before you even know you are being watched.

For us to start dreaming of lofty goals, lets start from the simple basics of having a good infrastructure conducive to advancement.

Comments like these were common when the banks wanted to implement debit cards so I am not surprised.

The funny thing is that over 95% of people that oppose any good suggestions about moving Nigeria forward are living outside Nigeria. Is it that they know what we don't know or what?

Or, are they desperately trying to dismiss anything good about Nigeria as a way to justify their staying abroad or what?

Whether you guys like it or not, Nigeria is on the move and you shall see how this country will move forward your level of apathy notwithstanding.

Bankole01, tell this forum if you believed the banks would be able to implement ATMs in Nigeria, be honest, let us know your thoughts and compare them to the reality on ground today.

So much negativity and pessimism.

it has all been said, but i will reiterate

the infrastructure required to support a CCTV system is not in place. the following are required:

constant electricity supply
a high speed internet connection linking the cameras to a central/dispersed monitoring locations
protection surge /overvoltage etc. . .

the culture is also not in place

nigerians are lousy at keeping paper records. can you imagine how they will keep digital records? especially when you consider the fact that this will be run by the police- an anachronistic, goverment run enterprise?

i have no faith in nigerian police. if lagos somehow developed a functioning CCTV system overnight, you can be sure that the police would abuse it, like they have abused everthing assigned to them.PDP will probably go one over mugabe (the entrapment of that reverend. . . )

Afam:


Or, are they desperately trying to dismiss anything good about Nigeria as a way to justify their staying abroad or what?

Whether you guys like it or not, Nigeria is on the move and you shall see how this country will move forward your level of apathy notwithstanding.

Bankole01, tell this forum if you believed the banks would be able to implement ATMs in Nigeria, be honest, let us know your thoughts and compare them to the reality on ground today.

So much negativity and pessimism.

Afam: This is not personal, don't let us make it so.

I believe all Nigerians whether they live at home or abroad want very much to contribute to the development of Nigeria.
I for one have done a lot, both privately and with governing authorities to assist Nigeria in my area of expertise.

The banks issue have no correlation to the argument being discussed.
For one thing, the banks are privately manged entities for profit. The utmost performance and efficiency are paramount to making profit for the owners and investors.

The securities issue are that of public concerne and it has been mismanaged for centuries, no matter who was at the helm of governance.
My argument is not that of negativity or pessimism, but that of concrete debate of what we have, what is on the ground and what we need to do to advance our nation.

Some of us abroad will like to return home, believe it or not. Most fill trapped by our successes in the land of sojourn. Most have acquired so much property and investments in family and business, that it will not be easy to divest and move to uncertainty.
This is why we agitate for a place we would be happy to contribute constructively.
Just because  a person does not personally reside in a place, does not mean he has no interest in the development and advancement of that place.

On the contrary, we still have parents, siblings and other family members, whom we which well and would like to live as comfortably as we do.

Because we don't agree on steps to pull our country forward does not in any way make me any less of an enthusiast, for the advancement of Nigeria. The contrary is I see a future for me in Nigeria, for a role I know I need to play, if only given the opprtunity to play my part.

Our experiences differ and people often relate from their experiences and maturity.

May the dead RIP, may the robbers be caught

@Bankole01,

On the bank issue technology is the focus not whether it is profit based on not.

From the minimum capital base to issue of ATM people like your buried the ideas before there were even implemented and now you believe one should not compare the two.

And someone is talking about surge protectors and high speed internet access as being obstacles towards setting up such a system, wonders shall never end.

Signing off!!!

Afam:

@Bankole01,

On the bank issue technology is the focus not whether it is profit based on not.

From the minimum capital base to issue of ATM people like your buried the ideas before there were even implemented and now you believe one should not compare the two.

The technology in this case (ATM), is intricately tied to their profit margin and ease of doing business. They know to continue to make profit, grow and compete in a global world of business, they need to adapt their technology, evolving their activities to attract customers in other to become more competitive in the comity of nations.

Our various governments (local, State and Federal), on the other hand have no such mentality (a shame). They have not the maturity nor the urge to compete in a global world. Hence the lackadasical attitude to managing our resources and growth.

So you see, we are comparing apples and oranges. No correlation in the very least.
It would be nice, it our City/State managers could treat the running of their wards like business executives do.

The banks also, should have been the ones who will be at the fore front of installing CCTV to protect themselves and their customers. If they have not already done so, they have dropped the ball and let down their customers.

They, because it is tied to their profitabilty and goodwill with their customers, should be trailblazing in the use and adaptability of this technology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bankole01:

The banks also, should have been the ones who will be at the fore front of installing CCTV to protect themselves and their customers. If they have not already done so, they have dropped the ball and let down their customers.

They, because it is tied to their profitabilty and goodwill with their customers, should be trailblazing in the use and adaptability of this technology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It seems that you are getting closer to home now, speed up the process abeg, I am really getting tired of the way people dismiss Nigeria anytime something good is suggested.

At last a meeting point for Bankole and Afam, I've been enjoying your exchange of Ideas. The truth is that we have the human resources but the big question is the political will. Someone to steer the ship of this nation in the right direction. One can only hope it happens!

FOUR people, including two policemen, were in the early hours of Thursday killed and several others injured in a foiled bank robbery attack around Fagba bus stop in Iju area of Agege in Lagos State.


In Osun State, at least one policeman was killed while two others were injured as robbers operated in two locations.


The two policemen that died in Lagos, an Inspector and a Corporal, were killed by a 20-man gang of heavily armed robbers who stormed a branch of an old generation bank in the area.


Nigerian Tribune gathered that the robbers had, in the early hours of the day, stormed the bank and the anti-robbery police squads from several formations in the state gave them a stiff opposition.


http://www.tribune.com.ng/23112007/news/news3.html

Mamajama:

FOUR people, including two policemen, were in the early hours of Thursday killed and several others injured in a foiled bank robbery attack around Fagba bus stop in Iju area of Agege in Lagos State.


In Osun State, at least one policeman was killed while two others were injured as robbers operated in two locations.


The two policemen that died in Lagos, an Inspector and a Corporal, were killed by a 20-man gang of heavily armed robbers who stormed a branch of an old generation bank in the area.


Nigerian Tribune gathered that the robbers had, in the early hours of the day, stormed the bank and the anti-robbery police squads from several formations in the state gave them a stiff opposition.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/23112007/news/news3.html

Mamajama,
I honestly respect Tribune but What I don't know now is their source, take this as an eye wittness account, The robbers were not 20 but 8. They spent 30mins, there was no opposition any where, untill after they had gone. Infact, some of them followed thier car on foot to some distance. They succeded, robbers that entered the bank shot the manager did not succeed? What of the cash on the counter and the cash with their customers? I beg police should spare us those good stories.

Na wah for this our junk journalists ooo.

From my house I been dey hear the gun shots sef.

8 people, 3 girls and 5 guys.

Afam it appears you live nearby, Thank you jare. I think say na only me see am