The closed-circuit television (CCTV) installation programme awarded to Chinese company ZTE by the Federal Government to the two cities Abuja and Lagos stopped working three years after the award.
The contract was awarded to ZTE for the installation of the 2,000 security cameras in the two cities with a central control unit at the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, aimed at helping security agencies deal with security challenges.
A Daily Trust report indicates however only 1,000 CCTV cameras have been installed in strategic locations in the two cities, of which none are working and 130 units have been vandalised in Abuja.
This project was awarded under the National Public Service Communication System which is entitled to oversee the progress of the project.
Provision of wireless voice services for the Nigerian Police Force to modernise its operations was another project under the signed deal between the two parties which was to be done by July 2011.
Sources involved with the project said it is being stifled by government’s lack of “seriousness”, even as security challenges tighten the grip on parts of the country.
A senior officer at the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja said the installation of communication gadgets under the National Public Service Communication System was delayed because some of the masts required for the system to work have not been mounted.
“There are about 700 masts that will be installed in different parts of the country, but the contractors were not able to secure suitable sites to mount them,” the official said.
