Ungogo Local Government Council Chairman in Kano State, Engr Abdullahi Garba Ramat has developed a mobile app that will help in trackinv activities in the area.
The mobile app called “LURA” which means be conscious or watch your back was established in a bid to prevent security challenges like banditry and kidnapping.
Though Kano has been relatively peaceful despite having security challenges in neighburing states in the Northwest, the local council chairman explains that developing the app will checkmate suspicious activities that could cause harm in the area.
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According to Ramat, the software which can easily be download from their Android or Apple Store would enable residents to report any suspicious person who attempt to commit crime without making a phone call and without revealing their identities.
“Once you download the App and you log on to it, it will open a camera and ask you to snap what you have seen. The next thing it will ask is what you want to report and where you are reporting from. Once you key in your location, the software will automatically generate your location to the dashboard in the control room for necessary action by those concerned.
“The last question it will ask you is if you have any additional information. All these information would be seen on the dashboard only by the designated persons. If it’s actionable information, the relevant persons would immediately report to the appropriate security agencies. We are working in collaboration with all relevant security agencies such as police, DSS, Vigilante, Hisbah. So when we have a case reported we channel it to the relevant agency for further actions.
“The difference between the mobile app and physical operation is that it conceals the identity of informants so as not to jeopardise them as it is the case in physical reporting under the community policing system the country is trying to implement. This could enhance security because the app provides the necessary privacy that is lacking in the open reporting system in our current situation and makes it less effective because residents are afraid to report criminal activities so as not to be attacked by the criminal elements.
“Take for instance sometimes ago, when some kidnappers were arrested in Ungogo LGA and the Governor of Kano State gave an order that the house be demolished. When I visited the area and interacted with the residents to find out why they did not notify the relevant agencies of what was happening in their neighbourhood, they confessed that although they were aware of the atrocities that were being committed in that compound, they could not divulged the information for fear of being killed by the actors.
“Everybody wants to report happenings around them but is afraid of the fear of the unknown. So the mobile app is here to give the people 100 percent assurance that if you report anything, your identity is confidential. The app is in use now in the local government and making tremendous impact. People are reporting happenings around them. Just last week, some thugs were apprehended. They are fond of keeping their weapons in a market in Bachirawa and using same to attack and rob people of their property once it is dark. As far as this app is concerned, their safety is guaranteed as their identities will not be revealed and no calls or tracing of their numbers.”
Identity Management Agency established in Ungogo LGA
Ungogo local government council of Kano State has become the first local government to launch an Identity management agency and E-governance to tackle insecurity in the area.
According to NITDA, the unveiling and digitalization of Ungogo Governing system by the e-Chairman is in proper alignment with the 21st-century fast-growing technology as the primary driver of governance, businesses, security and way of life.
The Northwest Zonal Coordinator of NITDA Alhaji Shehu Abubakar who made the remarks assured of support from the agency.
Abubakar said Ungogo LGA is now the first council in Nigeria with a valid electronic Identity that is verifiable anywhere through QR Scanner or Card Reader.
‘’We are not surprised with the outcome of Engr. Ramat and we hope other LGAs in the country would follow suit to the new development,’’ he said.
The chairman of Ungogo Local Government Council, Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat said that through the identity management agency, the local government would capture the population in the area.
He also said through the agency they would verify the number of people who are coming into the local government.
‘’This would help us to overcome the act of criminalities and reduce the insecurity in our area, ‘’he stressed.
The Commissioner For Science and Technology represented by the Permanent Secretary, Hajiya Binta Musa noted that these are the kind of innovations that others should emulate.
He called for the cooperation of citizens and communities in Ungogo to immediately enrol in the new system for the desired goals of securing the council to be achieved.
