THE NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY
ISSN: 0331-4111 e-ISSN: 2736-075X
Volume 24, No. 2, November 2026
Pages 37-55
DOI: 10.36108/NJSA/6202.42.0230
Information and Communication Technology and Crime Management by the Police in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory
Collins E. Otutu, Grace Egwu, Patricia A. Taiwo, and Musa Abdullahi
Department of Sociology, University of Abuja, Nigeria
Abstract
The Role of information communication technology (ICT) in the management of crime has overtime attracted scholarly attention. Hence. this study focusses on the effectiveness of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on Crime management among Police in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Hinged on the Structural functionalist and modern management technology theory of policing, both qualitative and quantitative method were utilized to collect data from 384 randomly selected Police officers across six Area Councils. The semi-structured questionnaire was utilized to elicit information on the challenges of Nigerian police in crime management, the types of ICT utilized and the effectiveness of ICT devices utilized for crime management. Six Key informant interviews was conducted with Deputy Police Officers in the 6 districts. Quantitative data was analysed using the statistical packages for the social sciences (SPSS) and presented using frequencies and percentages, while the qualitative data was content analyzed. Over half (58.1%) of the respondents are males, 43% were aged 39-45, while about half (49.3%) had OND/NCE. Scanning devices and radio communication devices (66.4%), CCTV-Close Circuit Television (23.1%), GPS tracking/Data mining system (6%), Satellite imagery biometric surveillance (2.6%) were reported as primarily technological tools used just for communication and not in-depth investigation or tracking, which thus, undermined the effectiveness of police in crime management. This was reported to be further exacerbated challenges such poor funding, lack of ICT skills, epileptic electricity supply etc. More sophisticated technology, adequate funding and electricity and ICT are recommended for effective crime management in the Nigerian Police force.
Keywords: Effective crime management, Information Communication Technology, Nigerian Police Force