Experts Push for Artificial Intelligence to Curb Terrorism, Banditry

Experts in the technology, maritime and shipping sectors have called for the adoption of artificial intelligence in the fight against terrorism and to address the challenges posed by country’s porous borders, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can report.

Intelligent agent is a technology that perceives happenings in its environment and takes actions based on the imputed data and solely based on reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception and the ability to move. It is capable of manipulating matter in a jiffy.

Peter Asolo, a technological expert said that artificial intelligence should form the primary focus of the federal, states and local government.

This he said must start with proper census and issuance of security code/number to every Nigerian adding that artificial intelligence is principal in tackling the terror attacks and other security threats in the country.

“It entails the packaging of the whole thing about every Nigerian and bundling them into technology that enables you to patrol some places like the borders, difficult terrains and water ways,” Asolo said.

Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) estimated that there are no less than 1, 300 ‘illegal’ points of entry into Nigeria and that the nation’s borders were still very porous.

Hamman Abdullahi Yerima, Kaduna State comptroller of the NIS, while deporting 49 illegal immigrants from Kaduna State to Niger Republic, said that Nigeria’s borders still harbor more illegal migrants.

Only recently, security agencies in Northern Nigeria fingered porous borders as the channels through which the gunmen that massacred innocent people at a village in Zamfara State recently came from.

Alhaji Aminu Dabo, former managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), advised President Goodluck Jonathan to pay more attention to the nation’s borders if security challenges must be tackled squarely.
He said that crimes like armed robbery, human trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, are besetting the nation today as a result of the porous borders.

But Asolo, cautioned that manning the border is not taking the vehicle to run to and fro at the borders like the security agents have been doing.

“In developed countries, when one is seen around the border, he is called “hello, Mr A, where are you coming from. Probably, he said he was coming from the farm down there. “Really, what is your name? Can I see your ID?”

Then, he replies, “I am a farmer and do not have an ID”. The law enforcement agent will just dole out his artificial intelligent (gadget) and verify his finger print.

“The machine goes through the over 156 million people in the database we have and in less than 5 minutes he can detect if the person is a Nigerian or not. If it does not match any, then the person is an alien; in other words, you are not known to us, he has a case to answer. But today, we cannot do that. We must put the fundamentals on ground to tackle security.

He added that Nigeria’s population is growing too fast and the implications are scary if artificial intelligence is not embraced.