The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has opened a training session for operatives who will be responsible for managing the Nigeria Police Force Criminal Database Systems across the country’s zonal, divisional, and state levels.
Declaring the session open in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the IGP emphasised that the initiative marks a decisive shift from outdated, reactive policing models to a modern, intelligence-driven system rooted in data, memory, and predictive analysis.
According to the IGP, “without data, there is no memory. Without memory, there is no justice. But with data, there is no hiding place for criminals.”
The Police Chief described the Criminal Database Systems as the heartbeat of intelligence-led policing, designed to track repeat offenders across jurisdictions, detect crime patterns, share intelligence seamlessly, and support prosecutions with credible evidence.
The system will also integrate Nigeria’s policing architecture with global platforms such as INTERPOL, the African Union Border Programme, and UNODC frameworks, ensuring that criminals can no longer exploit borders or weak records to evade justice.
Highlighting the significance of the training, IGP Egbetokun charged participating operatives to treat their roles with professionalism, discipline, and integrity, noting that every record entered or verified is a vital weapon in the fight against crime.
The IGP also stressed that consistent record-keeping is not just an operational necessity but also a pathway to rebuilding public trust in the Police Force.