The University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka has reached an agreement with Bionomics Nigeria Limited, a private firm, to install 1,000 new closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the university’s main campus and two other campuses.
On Thursday, the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, and the Managing Director of Bionomics Nigeria Limited, Mr Oluchukwu Onyedika, signed a public-private partnership agreement in the Senate Chamber of the university on behalf of their respective establishments with some top management staff of UNILAG, including the deputy vice-chancellor (management services), Prof. Lucian Chukwu, Registrar, Mr. Oladejo Azeez,
Prof. Ogundipe stated that the project, which would include a control station on campus, will be ready for use by December at no cost to the university.
According to him, the institution believes in combining security people on the ground with technology devices to successfully prevent crimes and criminalities on and around its three campuses.
He stated that the university would not need to wait for crimes to occur before taking action, but rather would take steps to prevent crimes from occurring anywhere on campus.
He explained that the university now has roughly 300 CCTV cameras, which are insufficient to cover all important sites on campus, including flash points, necessitating the deployment of more as the university prepares to host the Nigerian Universities Games (NUGA) next year.
He said 700 of the new 1,000 cameras would be installed on the main campus, with the rest going to the Idi-Araba and Yaba campuses.
He also explained that, unlike those on the ground, the cameras would clearly capture people’s faces and all of their activities, as well as vehicle plate numbers, and that this would aid in solving crimes, producing data, and forensic examination of illegal acts on campus.
“Our students would also be trained by the company on CCTV camera installation, among others,” he added.
He stated that the project had been approved by the governing council.
Mr. Oluchukwu Onyedika, Managing Director of Bionomics Nigeria Limited, said that while the company is assisting UNILAG in improving its security architecture at no cost to the university, the company expects to make money from billboards that will be mounted on some of the poles for interested advertisers.
UNILAG, he added, would be the first tertiary institution in Nigeria to install what he called a “high-tech security device” in crucial spots on campus.
