The Nigerian Police has devised a digital means aimed at curtailing car theft in the country. The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba launched the digitalized Central Motor Registry (CMR) Command Centre at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The CMR is designed as a platform for information of registered vehicles that will help the police with search and investigation in case they are stolen.
A statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi said the CMR, which has two command centers located in Lagos and Abuja, and 37 information centers across Nigeria, will be available for Nigerians to report vehicles stolen as far back 2018.
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“The newly digitalized Central Motor Registry Command Centre will make it possible for members of the public to report vehicles stolen from as far back as 1st January 2018, and yet-to-be-recovered to input the vehicle details on the online platform to serve as a reliable data point for the possible recovery of the vehicle.
“The platform will also process motor vehicle information to support police operations and efforts toward enhancing national security.
“The digitalization of the CMR is complete with 2 Command Centres in Abuja and Lagos, 37 CMR Information Centres across the Country and in the Federal Capital Territory, 200 e-Enforcement Operational Patrol Vehicles with automatic number plate recognition on each vehicle as part of the first batch,” he said.
The PRO said the Centre is domiciled at the Department of Information and Communication Technology and urged Nigerians to make use of it to help the police to tame rising cases of stolen vehicles in the country.
“This is in line with the IGP’s quest to ensure a digital environment for policing the country for robust and more proactive measures in crime prevention, investigation, and prosecution.
“The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, admonished Nigerians and other residents in the country to take advantage of the platform at https://reportcmr.npf.gov.ng to upload their vehicle information on the website with effect from today 7th December 2022, as a security step for preventing it from being stolen and re-registered,” he said.
Car theft results in substantial loss of fortune in Nigeria. Between 2013 and 2015, data analysis on stolen vehicles shows that car owners lost about N1.8 billion to car theft. This is due to poor recovery.
Out of 2,544 vehicles stolen between 2013 and 2015, only 1,377 were recovered, putting the national recovery rate at 54%, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
This means that the police and other institutions involved in recovery of stolen vehicles could only recover five out of every 10 vehicles or half of the vehicles reported stolen within the period.
The CMR, if fully implemented, is expected to help the police in tracking and recovering more stolen vehicles.