The Association of Motor Dealers of
Nigeria has signed an agreement with the Nigeria Police Force for the
use of the PoliceBCMR, a technological means of attaching an
automobile owner’s biodata on a smart card.
At an official signing of the agreement
with their consultant, Media Concepts International Limited, in Lagos
on Thursday, the group said the initiative would help check the
incidence of vehicle theft across the country.
“What has been happening before now,
two of our members in the area of buying cars or receiving cars
without knowing they were stolen…. before you know it, our members
are either chased out of the business or run out of town.,” said
Ajibola Adedoyin, the association’s national president.
“That’s why we came up with this
concept and decide to partner with the Nigeria Police so as to see
how we can put a stop to it.
“And this will even reduce the amount
of money and resources wasted on trying to get stolen vehicles. With
this concept, I can tell you if we follow it well, it will be a thing
of the past. At times a vehicle will be brought to you with original
documents but it is stolen and if you decide to buy it and sell, you
will be in trouble.”
The PoliceBCMR also provides a platform
for the centralization of vehicle documents in order to create and
authenticate that database for police operational use in crime
management nationwide.
Ayotunde Omodeinde, an Assistant
Commissioner of Police, said the initiative was among the projects
the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris,approved to combat car
thefts in the country as well as protect innocent car dealers.
“Because often times, stolen vehicles
find their way to car dealers and car dealers end up selling stolen
vehicles without their knowledge often times,” said Mr. Omodeinde,
who is in charge of the police ICT Department.
“And police, in the course of our
investigation, when we trace those stolen vehicles to the car dealer,
the car dealer who has already paid for the vehicle end up losing
their money because police will recover the vehicle and the car
dealer will also suffer a lot of inconveniences.
“So police working with AMDON will
ensure that when vehicles are brought to them, they will be able to
cross-check whether those vehicles are stolen or not before they
receive it or buy it.
“And whenever a stolen vehicle comes
to AMDON car port, the AMDON member has a duty to inform the police
discreetly so that the police will be able to recover the vehicle.
“This is a very wonderful initiative
by the Inspector General of Police to ensure the integration of AMDON
system with the police BCMR to enable us track stolen vehicles and to
make it easy for members of the public to buy a vehicle without
trouble.”
In his remarks, Babatope Agbeyo, the
chairman of Cornfield Group, the parent company of Media Concepts
International, described the initiative as a giant step to safeguard
lives and properties of individuals.
“People steal because they can use
the loot or they can sell it but if there is a system whereby it’s
difficult for you to steal or enjoy what you have stolen, I think you
won’t do that.
“Police know that the job, security,
has gone beyond guns and cudgels, it’s now high tech, they are now
embracing technology which is making it better.
According to Mr. Omodeinde, the
PoliceBCMR would also provide police officers with handheld devices
with which to check the smart cards; he, however, added that the
process “is still ongoing.”
“Computer is garbage in garbage out,
if you have not registered your vehicle into the PoliceBCMR portal,
there’s no way you’ll be able to check and see information about
your vehicle,” Mr. Omodeinde said.
“So the first thing you need to do,
it’s free, is just go online and register your vehicle, put the
details of your vehicle particulars into the portal. Now, if you
desire to have the PoliceBCMR smart card, you’ll now go to a
PoliceBCMR capture centre and make a request for the smart card.
Courtesy: Premium Times
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