Security Problem In Nigeria: Closed Circuit Television System May Provide Solutions

By Dr. G. Sam Edo

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, the 8th largest in the world and 5th largest supplier to United States. Nigeria has the most educated populace in the whole of Africa. But the world is standing by on the sideline and watching, in jest as the most populous and richest nation in Africa slowly succumbs to the deathly grips of terrorist anarchists, relentless and unprecedented wave of kidnappings, bombing and maiming of innocent citizens, not only by organized terrorist groups but also by common thugs and delinquents. This cowardly giant of African is panting; defenseless against these tyrannical and terrorist elements that have gained a stronghold within the republic.

The ongoing wave of chaotic incidents characterized by senseless kidnappings and bombings of innocent civilians has precipitated my insomnia and exacerbated such countless sleepless nights for me. Thus, the issue of security or lack of it in Nigeria began to weigh heavily on my mind. I have finally decided to look at how to combat the incessant up-rise in kidnappings and other criminal activities via the use of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in all communities in the country.

So, to scrutinize the motives behind the current phenomenon of insecurity in Nigeria, one can readily conclude that Nigeria today shows vacillating and disinsure economies, more poverty, less stabilized democracy, including government that exhibits no responsibilities in terms of citizens’ security and or personal safety. The degradation of security has progressively become a uniformed phenomenon. Most obvious is in the northern part of Nigeria which has witnessed pernicious violence in recent times. Matter-of-factly, social cohesion is negatively impacted by crimes, violent criminals and insurgent/terrorist groups. Citizens’ security needs to be addressed through adequate policies and implementations of security infrastructures. One of such is the implementation of CCTV in high crime public arenas.

According to Wikipedia, Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. The use of CCTV in general is not a new concept; however it is becoming more popular, as it has been found to help deter criminals and even provide evidence to law enforcement apparatus to prosecute, reprimand and even imprison criminals in developed countries like Australia, United Kingdom, United States and other Caribbean countries.

My supposition here is not that CCTV is a one- size- fit -all solution, rather part of a multi-layered approach to combating the ongoing upsurge of blatant kidnappings, bombings of innocent citizens and the perpetration of other nefarious activities. Besides, there is no singulus veneficus formula (single magic formula) to combat crimes and criminalities. However, this article spotlights the success that can be achieved when CCTV is used in concert with other security strategies to combat crimes and or deter criminal elements and activities.

To this end, controlling these criminal elements and criminalities requires multiple security disciplines working together in context. By that I mean, result-based security infrastructure (For example CCTV), the police, the legislature, and the communities. To reiterate, while no single solution will solve these problem of progressive crimes (terrorism, insurgency, kidnappings, and bombings) on its own, the next-generation surveillance cameras provide the unprecedented synthesis and control of, and the true integration needed to deter and possibly prevent both known and unknown criminal activities.

To paraphrase DC.gov (http://mpdc.dc.gov/page/cctv-goals) the goal of the CCTV system is to enhance the safety and security of residents, workers and visitors in the District of Columbia, while vigorously respecting the privacy rights of individuals.

CCTV will also assist law enforcement with real-time, visual information during major events such as demonstrations, presidential inaugurations and marches. In times of heightened alert, the CCTV allows police to monitor public spaces around key installations that are at risk of terrorist attacks, without having to assign a large number of uniformed officers to that task. The CCTV system helps the police to deploy resources more efficiently and to respond to incidents more quickly and effectively, while continuing to maintain essential neighborhood patrols.

Also, according to a report published by Marco Nieto, Public Video Surveillance: Is It An Effective Crime Prevention Tool? It claimed “In Liverpool, crimes such as shoplifting, prostitution, graffiti, and other nonviolent crimes have decreased by 25 percent over the last 3 years. The city has installed one of the largest CCTV surveillance systems is Great Britain. Liverpool residents report that they feel safer downtown, even at night. There is anecdotal information that in the face of videotape evidence, a higher percentage of those charged with crimes plead guilty”. This is another example of why Nigeria should adopt the use of CCTV Nigeria.

Despite the above reports, the truth is that there are enormous challenges to the solution proposed to this complex problem. One of the major challenges to the implementation of CCTV would be lack of constant electricity in Nigeria. As constant electrical outages still plague Nigeria even in modern time, there is however abundance of natural resources to power CCTV 24/7. Thus this challenge can easily be overcome by installations of solar powered CCTVs. Nigeria is blessed with at least 10 months of sunshine in a year. These types of security cameras are mostly installed in areas where adequate power source may be impractical or not constant.

Cost of Installation and Maintenance: Nigerian government is known to engage in grand elephant projects with no proper planning for immediate or future maintenance. Adequate funding should be appropriated by the required legislative committees and periodic audits and review should be implemented on a per diem basis or when there is a significant event.

Lack of privacy laws or ordinances to address CCTV usage; Ground rules should be set within established parameters of the laws governing the appropriate use of CCTV. Periodic audit review of the process should be ongoing and violators should be appropriately reprimanded or disciplined

Proper training is another challenge. Sufficient trainings for operators, so as not to violate citizens’ privacy rights are needed. The CCTV surveillance operator must be trained not to monitor or track individuals who have not obviously been involved in a crime and must not be used for general intelligence gathering. Such violations would be subject to severe disciplinary actions, up to terminations and or prosecution.

Another recurrent challenge is public acceptance, because covert security cameras are exceptionally contentious, as they appear to extract highly personal data, often surreptitiously. Public negative perceptions of CCTV can be remediated by users’ awareness and education.

While all the above enumerated reasons are good to adopt the use of CCTV in public, it places an undue burden on privacy. The proponents of privacy laws around the world would be less than enthusiastic about the call for or the adoption of CCTV to combat crimes in Nigeria. To this end, Privacy advocates continue to argue that the reliance on CCTV as a monitoring tool is a blatant violations of individual privacy which should be protected under the constitution of any democratic community.

Nevertheless, the perception of CCTV technologies, its capability to combat crimes and other criminal activities, the convenience of preserving privacy are progressively becoming more significant to government, business, as well as individuals. These developments are the primary drivers for the adoption and implementation of CCTV technologies around the world. Whether or not the public will accept the use of CCTV in public places remain a significant issue.

It is important to note that there is a level of assurance that is guaranteed to the citizens with the implementation of CCTV in public places by government. Moreover, such implementation is a clear indication to criminals that they will be caught, possibly prosecuted and or incarcerated. It is time the Federal government of Nigeria looks into this viable solution.