Once again, the world felt cold. The United States of America had been hit. A twin bomb had been let off in Boston, capital of Massachusetts. Back home, the Boko Haram sect continues to wage war against the Federal Government and the citizenry and the debate of granting amnesty continues raucously. We are also not likely to forget in a tick, Mr. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to detonate plastic explosives airborne Detroit, Michigan on December 25th 2009. If the planet had a human face, it would be with tears streaming on it!
Apologies to the late wizard of Ososa and travelling theatre veteran – Hubert Ogunde; it is not just an age of bread and bullet, it is that of bullets and blood and blogs today. Coincidentally Ogunde’s 1950 play was about the police and protesters. In the performance, the protesters were shot and eighteen miners died. It is on record that the play was refused performance in Kano. According to Ogunde, ‘they asked for bread and they were given bullet’. It is the quest for bread that sets humans out on a daily basis. It is the same quest for bread that sets the lazy ones out with the inglorious task of snatching breads from the lawful owners and when they do most times, blood splatters on the land. And it is to stop the activities of the latter category that an organisation like the Police Force was established.
From time immemorial, the enemy does not fight the war that one prepares for but one that they think and know that they will win. The lessons from the Boston Bombing case that left three dead and about 170 people injured is too enormous to be ignored. My interest albeit lies in the new media angle that was used to tackle the crime in a way that led to the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 and the eventual arrest of his brother, Dzhokhar. In an age like ours, crime is cheap. It is readily accessible. Information on how to perpetrate same seems discounted and would be handed over on asking. It is thus not surprising that the duo could pull off such deadly actions. In 0.21 seconds, google.com has the ability to throw up 542,000,000 results on a simple query of ‘how to make a bomb’. I am not sure of what the brothers have been reading, watching or listening to before now. What is however certain is that they had information and they definitely used it to cause the pandemonium that followed its use. The new media lessons are huge for our own Nigerian Police Force which is yet to meet the security expectations of the Nigerian people in line with global best practices.
Enter Boston Police Department; the first check was done on the CCTV camera, a new media tool, and grainy images of the brothers were found. The first clear image was however captured by a marathon runner who had finished the race and took pictures of the pandemonium with his i-Phone. Following the release of the grainy images by the Police Department, everyone checked pictures they had taken and one of the brothers was spotted – bingo! The manner in which the surviving brother’s social media account was also scrutinised is a hint to how important our social media life has become. It gave a clue to his interests and helped to profile if he was the one they were looking for. His VKontakte (a Russian social networking site) and twitter account were of particular interest. Maybe the American society also failed him. His Facebook post of not having friends may be his way of seeking for help that never came.
The Nigerian Police twitter account, with a paltry 197 tweets and 27,576 followers is not a good social media story for policing, ditto its Facebook page which is mainly an extension for newspapers reportage of the Police. It is also striking that the Inspector General of Police, M.D Abubakar does not have a Wikipedia page and yet Shekau Abubakar has one (I hope I am wrong). The videos of the sect are also circulated through social media means – either in YouTube videos or mp4 files. I am yet to see information sharing by the Nigerian Police through such means. Information on safety tips can be couched and shared with the public. Criminals are known to change their methods regularly; the police should inform us of new findings on real time basis and in graphically simulated manner. I have heard instances of how some brilliant police officers tracked down petty criminals through Facebook conversations. While commendable, the Police as an organisation needs to do more.
The thermal images that were taken by the helicopter, the robot that was used to yank the covering off the hunted Dzhokhar in the boat, the flir – Forward Looking Infrared technology that was used to confirm the boy was alive are also lessons in new media technology for our police department. The crime of the coming days would be sophisticated ones. The police needs to prepare for that age. Last week, a leading online entertainment site in Nigeria was hacked and the hacker(s) demanded ransom. I am not certain the police has the tool and capacity to arrange a release of this kind especially when we still battle with human kidnaps without clear success stories of how the release was gotten without paying ransom.
I am at a loss as to why the Facebook page of the Nigerian Police cannot have mug shots of wanted criminals on it. And where is our own 911? With the high telephone penetration in the country today, a new media tool like that should help solve crimes. Is it that hard to have mobile service provider in the country support the Nigerian Police with a toll free line that would always be reachable? The two lines (08077446699 and 08102555581) provided by the incumbent Inspector General of Police are usually either switched off or forwarding your calls only to disconnect. The recent activities of the Police on traditional media, especially its interactive radio programme, though commendable needs to be complemented with the new media so the information can trickle down.
Czech Republic was also quick to explain that it was not the same with Chechnya when’ twitterians’ started mistaking the two. Such is the power of the new media. The Ambassador could not ignore it. Recently, several Facebook accounts in Nigeria have been inundated by messages from individuals usually camouflaging as ladies trying to ask for unsolicited friendship and request that you seek her pictures. It is bait and a prelude to financial crime. Someone needs to rise to this in the police. The Nigerian Police needs new hands for this new demand. Crime Prevention is the best and cheaper.
Wait for this. Despite what seems a heroic act by the Boston Police Department and the FBI, Americans took to blogs and other social media outlets and still bashed them wondering why it took that long and such huge expense to arrest a teenager. They wanted to know how he managed to escape on foot and also kill. It is good feedback and it can also make the Boston PD review its operations and firm it up in subsequent engagements.
Despite the low ratio of Police to citizens in Nigeria with a short fall of about 64,000 and the unfair deployment majorly to members of the ruling class, the new media can help pad the lacuna. But like I always like to advocate; new media use should not happen in isolation, it should be an extension of offline activities. And here, the Nigerian Police still has a lot to do.
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‘Sola Fagorusi
Sola Fagorusi is a youth development advocate, freelance writer, accomplished debater cum coach. The Obafemi Awolowo University graduate has about 10 years experience in social entrepreneurship which straddles leadership, good governance cum anti-corruption and adolescent reproductive health. The Leap Africa alumnus is also a trained peer educator, a DESPLAY alumnus and co-facilitator. For 2 years now, he has been a technical consultant and lead judge on the Intra-Faith Peace Youth TV Debate Project facilitated by Youngstars Foundation and the British High Commission. To read his full profile, click here
