ABUJA — The Nigeria Police Force, Police Community Relations Committee and Vigilante Group of Nigeria have commenced the joint rollout of BOOSTAR, a free public emergency application designed to popularise Police emergency numbers and 112 while reducing delays in distress reporting and response.
The formal joint take-off exercise began at the Nigeria Police Force Zone 7 Command Headquarters in Abuja, bringing together Police officers, PCRC leaders, VGN representatives, schools, community stakeholders and other public-safety partners.
BOOSTAR means Boost Alert and Response. It is being deployed as a community-policing technology that allows members of the public to access the Police before and during emergencies, submit early security reports and share distress locations with authorised responders.
The public application is completely free to download and use for genuine security reporting and emergency access.
According to the organisers, many Police responses become late or belated because the first distress alert reaches the appropriate authority too late.
During a kidnapping, armed robbery, school attack or violent community incident, victims and witnesses may panic, forget emergency numbers, fear making a telephone call or struggle to explain exactly where the incident is happening.
Some people also know the National Emergency Number 112 but do not know the Police Emergency Control Room number responsible for their location. Others may notice suspicious activity before an incident but have no simple and trusted channel for passing the information to the Police.
BOOSTAR was developed to address these problems.
After downloading the application, the user registers with a telephone number and grants the necessary telephone, location, SMS and floating-button permissions.
Before a crime occurs, residents can use BOOSTAR to report suspicious movement, criminal harbouring, threats to schools, attempted kidnapping, dangerous persons and other early-warning information.
During an emergency, the user activates the BOOSTAR SOS or floating emergency button. The application helps the user access 112 and the relevant Police Control Room and can transmit the distress location to authorised monitoring personnel.
Reports and locations are received through the Police BOOSTAR Monitoring platform, known as PBM, which is provided to authorised Divisional Police Officers, PCRC coordinators, VGN commanders and other approved response personnel.
This means the public user raises the alert through the free BOOSTAR application, while authorised responders receive and manage the information through PBM.
The Zone 7 take-off is expected to provide a practical model for divisional implementation.
Under the rollout process, the Divisional Police Officer, Divisional PCRC Chairman and recognised VGN Commander will constitute a joint divisional implementation and response team.
The team will invite landlords, community development associations, estate managers, street-security groups, traditional leaders, schools, transport operators, market associations, religious organisations and youth representatives to divisional community-security meetings.
At the meetings, residents will be shown how BOOSTAR works and how every household can download and use the application to reach the Police before and during an emergency.
Landlords, estates and street leaders will be encouraged to ensure that households, gatemen and recognised community-security personnel understand 112, the appropriate Police Control Room number and the correct use of BOOSTAR.
The Police, PCRC and VGN will also support community sensitisation through WhatsApp groups, meetings, jingles, posters and household activation campaigns.
Once an emergency alert is received, the DPO and Police response personnel will retain operational command. The PCRC will support communication, community verification and coordination, while authorised VGN personnel closest to the incident may provide immediate protective support pending the arrival of the Police.
Where a crime is taking place and the law permits immediate restraint, properly identified and trained vigilante personnel may help prevent a suspect from escaping and hand the person over to the Police.
However, VGN personnel must not conduct unlawful raids, punish suspects, interrogate people, use excessive force or act outside Police coordination. Criminal investigation, formal arrest, detention and prosecution remain the responsibility of legally authorised institutions.
The initiative is expected to strengthen the relationship between Police divisions and the communities they serve by making early information available for verification and response.
BOOSTAR will also support the registration and verification of vigilantes, gatemen, maiguards and other informal security personnel employed in homes, streets, estates and communities.
This aspect forms part of the Vigilante Anti-Criminal Harbouring Campaign, which seeks to make it more difficult for wanted persons and criminals to hide in communities while pretending to be security workers.
The programme will encourage households and employers to know the identity, residence, guarantor, previous employment and recognised affiliation of persons placed in sensitive security positions.
BOOSTAR is also being applied to the PCRC Safe School Programme.
Through the Safe School function, teachers, parents, students and surrounding communities can report suspicious movement, cultism, drug activity, loitering, kidnapping threats and other dangers around educational institutions.
Participating schools will be captured in a structured security database containing their locations, surrounding environments, nearest Police divisions and relevant emergency facilities.
Authorised school-security officials will receive community reports through the monitoring platform and can also send school distress alerts to the Police.
The objective is to ensure that warning signs around schools are reported before they become attacks.
For road travellers, the Passenger Anti-Kidnapping function provides a journey-safety and distress-reporting channel.
Before commencing a journey, a passenger presses the yellow “I Am Travelling” button. During a kidnapping attempt, armed robbery or other serious road-security threat, the passenger activates the BOOSTAR SOS button to access 112, the relevant Police Control Room and authorised responders.
After reaching the destination safely, the passenger presses the green “I Have Arrived” button to end the journey-safety session.
Where several passengers within the same location raise similar alerts, the combined information may help the Police identify and respond to a possible major highway-security incident.
The BOOSTAR Election Observer Reporting provision will also support the reporting of election violence and dangerous misinformation.
Authorised election observers, NYSC election personnel and approved civil-society organisations can submit structured reports linked to the appropriate state, local government area, ward and polling unit.
Reports concerning violence, voter intimidation, disruption, suspicious movement or false information can be reviewed and verified through an authorised Situation Room before being escalated to INEC and the Police.
The system is intended to reduce dependence on unverified social-media reports capable of causing confusion or election violence. It is not designed to suppress lawful journalism or interfere with election results.
The organisers said the success of Police BOOSTAR will depend on public participation, responsible reporting and the willingness of Police divisions, PCRC members and recognised vigilante structures to work together.
«“Police BOOSTAR has formally taken off through the Zone 7 joint exercise involving the Police, PCRC and Vigilante Group of Nigeria. The next step is to take the application into every division, street, estate and household.”»
Members of the public have been urged to download BOOSTAR from the Google Play Store or directly through:
BOOSTAR is free to the public.
Residents should use the application only for genuine safety concerns and emergencies. False reports and prank emergency calls can obstruct the response to people facing real danger.