Cynthia’s death: Technology
problem, needs technology solution.
For a lot of Nigerians, they may
not like to visit social networking sites for the rest of their lives for the
sake of what happened to Cynthia Udoka Valerie Osokogu, which resulted in her
death, but for others, there are opportunities still abound on social network
and in fact any day they are unable to access their social media networks among
over 344 sites offering similar social platforms, the day is incomplete or they
will be severely sick.
DigitalSENSE News reports have it
that despite the seeming disadvantages of Information and communication
technologies (ICT), especially through the social networking tools and
associated deaths recorded over the years with the proliferation of these sites,
one cannot forget in a haste the goodies that come from same technologies.
Take for instance, the Nigeria
Police was equivocal in disclosing the role played by the Closed Circuit
Television (CCTV), in unmasking the killers of Ms Cynthia because the hotel was
proactive about security.
Experts say CCTV is a private
visual surveillance technology designed for variety monitoring. Adding that usually, CCTV is a visible or
covert video system intended for only a limited number of viewers. In a Closed Circuit
TV (CCTV), the picture is viewed or recorded, but not broadcast, which means it
initially developed as a means of security for banks and casinos; however,
today it has been developed to the point where it is simple and inexpensive
enough to be used with home security systems, and for everyday surveillance,
according to experts at www.whatiscctv.com.
Another important role worthy of
note as far as this case is concerned is the fact that call log, which was
reportedly used extensively by the Police in tracking Cynthia’s last moment
calls for both received and called on her mobile number with the aid of her
network operator.
Information experts at an online
encyclopedia, the Wikipedia, describes ‘Call logging,’ as the process of
collecting phone call data, analysing same, and then reporting on the telephone
network’s cost, performance, capacity and quality of service (QoS).
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| Cynthia |
Experts also warned that this kind
of activities should not be confused with telephone tapping or call recording,
of which the former refers to listening to calls, while the latter is about
recording conversations on a given network.
Equally there are call logging
software, which job involves to interpret the raw Call Data Record (CDR) and
allow the user to produce graphical reports. Call logging software packages
differ in the sizes of Private Branch Exchange (PBX), a telephone exchange that
serves a particular business or office PBX systems that they could support from
hundreds of extensions to hundreds of thousands of extensions. They also differ
in reporting capability and support for specialised PBX features as well as
above all other features is its use to discover instances of telephone fraud.
However, the role of call log
cannot be over-emphasised with respect to resolving Cynthia’s murder, even in
the law court.
DigitalSENSE News authoritatively
gathered the Police explore this aspect of the technology extensively.
According to the Police
Commissioner in Lagos State, Mr. Umar Manko, the Police track the murders to
their point of arrest with the aid of call-log on Ms Osokogu’s call details to
the first fortnight of her disappearance and traced suspects to Lagos and
Nnewi, Anambra State.
He narrated that on discovering a
Yellow Card belonging to Cynthia, they quickly contacted a sister security
organization, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) office for further
information, which paved the way for proper identification of the victim.
With the support of the family, her
details like the mobile phone number and some contacts became more visible in
the course of the investigation following further assistance from the telecoms
service operator, who made available the call log, usually indicating those she
may have called or those who called her.
As it were the suspects may have
also used the number to call their girl friends, one of which was contacted by
the police in pretence and a meeting was fixed and from that point the first
arrest was reportedly made of Ezekiel Odera, one of the suspects, who claimed
to be a 400 level student of Anambra State University, Uli. Consequently, Odera
led detectives to Okwoma Nwabufor, a 300 level accounting student of the
University of Lagos (UNILAG).
In the above scenario, it is clear
the role of technology tools in solving the problem invariably created by another
piece of ICT tools. It is hoped that the Police continue in this track to
ensure that culprits of this murder are finally brought to book effectively, so
as to give Cynthia’s parents, retired Gen. Frank and Madam Joy–Rita Nkem
Osokogu’s family and friends and entire Nigerians the justice well deserved.
May be another Nigeria Police Force is possible empowered by ICT.
Remmy Nweke
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
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