Police partner with NIMC for biometric criminal identification in Nigeria’s largest city

The police force in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, says it plans to employ biometric technology in order to reverse a rising tide of criminality. It is not immediately clear which company will be supplying the technology or when the project will commence.

The head of the Police in the State of Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, said recently that the project will be executed with the technical expertise of the country’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

Nigerian daily newspaper Punch reported this week that this will be done by systematically obtaining some biometric features of inhabitants of the city in order to facilitate criminal investigation by the competent police services. Lagos, also the most populous city in sub-Saharan African, is notorious for its sky-high crime wave.

The Lagos State Police Chief has underlined the importance of introducing biometric technology for the purpose, saying it will help in the proper forensic identification of residents of the metropolis and deter criminal action. Odumosu also directed police personnel in the state to register with NIMC.

There are plans to possibly extend the move to the entire country estimated to have 200 million citizens.

Meanwhile, back in 2018, Nigeria’s Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had also launched a project to collect biometric features of security guards nationwide in a bid to stem crime. It was reported then that the exercise was to be extended to other categories of people such as domestic staff and drivers.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric database  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  identity management  |  identity verification  |  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)  |  Nigeria  |  police