The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to complete the National Data Fusion Centre, NDFC, to enable security agencies to interface and share information to curb the activities of the criminals in the country.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, who stated this during a meeting with the Head, Interpol/National Central Bureau, Stanley Udeh, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, disclosed that 18 interrelated projects are currently going on at the centre.
He said once the centre is completed, it will enhance the capacity of the security agencies to solve numerous crimes; law enforcement; pool of criminal data, and effective interagency collaboration.
He was quoted in a statement issued at the weekend by the Deputy Director of Press in the ministry, Bolaji Kazeem.
According to Sani-Gwarzo, the Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, and the Minister of State, Hajia Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, are championing quick completion of the projects and directed that any gaps identified should be corrected to ensure the effective implementation of the ministry’s key result area of the technological transformation.
He said: “With what we are doing now, I am optimistic that the Nigeria Police Force will function effectively and efficiently to deliver quality service to Nigerians,
“We do not need to wait for the United Nations to provide us data on criminal activities in our domain. We need to do more to profile and document criminals in the country and the ministry is ready to support the Nigeria Police Force to have the capacity to do that.”
The permanent secretary added that “as the data centre facility is 50% completed and 100% equipment purchased, there is the need for physical structure development to go along with the mobilization of sister agencies which the NPF is interfacing with for the manpower training.”
Earlier, the Head of Interpol/ National Crime Bureau, AIG Stanley Udeh, pointed out that the National Criminal Data Centre and National Crime and Incident Data Base Centre are progressing under the supervision of the ministry and therefore stressed the need to have a functional centralized Criminal Data Centre to harmonize pockets of data among sister agencies.
He said his office is a national entity that liaises and fulfills a role in the international police operation by liaising with both local police and international law enforcement agencies, adding that “what is needed now is to set up a committee that will promote interagency understanding in the development of the centre.”
“The essence of Interpol is to support global law enforcement operations. The Interpol activities extend to a jurisdiction with no diplomatic relations and the interaction is such that law enforcement should not be hindered by military, political, religious or commercial issues,” Udeh explained.
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