Who are we?
Nigeria Policewatch.com is an online platform that provides citizens of Nigeria with vital information to help them get the best out of the police in their neighborhoods and thus live a more secure life in a country high in crime. It also provides the police with the information they need to better protect citizens and their communities.
In addition, the site serves as a community for citizens and the police from across the country to interact and exchange information that will make the police more efficient and citizens and their neighborhoods more secure.
Why are we here?
The Nigeria Police Force is among the least efficient in the world. A recent report out of the police headquarters put the number of murders, manslaughters, rapes, and kidnapping in the last two years at 74, 065. Most of the cases were unresolved. Apart from being inefficient, the force is terribly corrupt and is notorious for gross human rights violation, including extrajudicial killings.
The police force’s ineptitude and notoriety for failing to protect the anonymity of those who provide it with tips have made it difficult for citizens to step forward to report crimes. Moreover, citizens lack the basic information for their security. Even telephone numbers and police contact information is unavailable. And because there is no one media focusing on security and police reporting, citizens do not have a platform to consistently express their views about the police, which, in many instances, get away with all manners of citizen abuse and unethical behavior.
What we offer
This multimedia site will depend on aggregation, original reporting and crowdsourcing. Major features on the site will be news, crime data, crime tips, directories, discussions and police responses.
Stories about security and the police have broad appeal among Nigerians and many of them are likely to make contributions. The plan is to make the site a kind of community where citizens and the police share experiences, participate and collaborate to make the police more efficient.
Our site will also enable the authorities to respond to public complaints about their performance. Such responses will be published on the site as well as on Facebook and Twitter, which are increasingly popular among Nigerians. Over one million Nigerians are now on Facebook.
We would be just a facilitator developing this community by providing key data, documents, information, news, features, investigations and moderating contributions from the public. The public will be able to provide information without necessarily providing their names or identities.