- The IRT utilized this device to stay ahead of kidnappers, and it remains in operation today.
- The device provided valuable evidence, such as call records and location data, to build strong cases against kidnappers.
A former high-ranking police officer has revealed that a cutting-edge tracking technology, initially used by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to crack criminal cases, was later exploited by politicians for personal gain — to monitor their “enemies and mistresses”
According to Vanguard, a retired senior police officer revealed that the system, designed to tackle kidnapping, was allegedly used to surveil political opponents and individuals, raising concerns about the abuse of power and technology.
In 2015, then-Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase introduced intelligence-driven policing, introducing a real-time tracking system to monitor kidnappers’ movements and analyze their communication patterns.
This innovative approach led to several notable successes, including the capture of five suspects involved in the 2015 kidnapping of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae.
However, Arase claimed that subsequent police leadership failed to update and maintain this critical technology, hindering its continued effectiveness.
“The priority of successive IGPs was quite different. Solomon Arase set up the platform when he was the IGP. It was a technical platform to track calls,” Vanguard quoted the unnamed senior officer as saying.
“It was mounted in the IGP’s office then and only one officer, who is now an AIG, had access to the technical platform.
“The Intelligence Response Team, IRT was supposed to be the operational wing that would work with the technical platform. When the technical team got information, it would pass it to IRT to go to the location and make an arrest. Drones and vehicles were bought for the operation.
“But successive IGPs who were analogues didn’t know what to do. They merged the technical platform and IRT. Instead of the platform being used for crime prevention, it became political.
“People in the National Assembly and Villa got hold of the platform and used it to track their enemies and mistresses.
“For such a platform, you don’t give both the technical and the operational units to just one person who would be compromised by politicians.
“That was the beginning of the collapse of the platform. It requires someone with power and intelligence; someone of a strategic level who is keen on that line.
“This platform was supposed to be renewed and hooked up with the service provider. But that was never the priority of successive IGPs.
“They had money to pay for the accumulated subscription but they refused to pay. When you leave such a system for more than one year, it requires recalibration. This technology keeps evolving.
“You can’t say something you set up today will be used the same way for 10 years without being upgraded. Before long, the system broke down, and the functionality of the Police tracking equipment began to diminish and subsequently went comatose.
“The tracker, particularly, became non-functional due to non-subscription as well as failure to engage the relevant company to carry out required system upgrades.
“Due to the failure to pay subscription fees for about three years, and after a grace period had expired, the company overseeing its maintenance and upgrade decided to withdraw its services.
“This made it difficult to track bandits, kidnappers, and other forms of violent crimes.”
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