The Chief Executive Officer, Teledom Group, Mr. Emmanuel Ekuwem has urged government at all levels to invest in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions, to reduce the increasing crime rate in Nigeria.

Ekuwem, the past President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), gave the advice at a news conference in Lagos, recently.

He said that the growing rate of insecurity in the country had become a source of worry and concern to government, hence the need to find a lasting solution to it.

Ekuwem said that corporate institutions, religious stakeholders, social groups and all stakeholders in the Nigeria project were also disturbed by the development.

“Armed robberies, assassinations, kidnappings, religious disturbances and ethnic riots are no longer strange occurrences in our society, as they have become the order of the day, in virtually all parts of the country.

“A day hardly passes without our national dailies carrying banner headlines of unabated criminal activities and security lapses in one part of the country or the other,’’ he said.

Ekuwem said the country could not be developed in ICT and still be in distress.

“It is with this in mind, that the Technology Development Company (TDC) Ltd, in collaboration with Gamnet Solutions Ltd, plan to hold a stakeholders’ Summit on ICT Intervention in National Security Emergency,” he stressed.

Ekuwem said that the summit with the theme, “National Security Emergency: Information and Communications Technology to the Rescue’’ would hold on September  7 at Eko Hotel, Lagos.

He said that the purpose of the summit was to mobilise players in the ICT sector in Nigeria to plan and devise effective technology and system interventions that would enhance the efforts of the security forces.

“There is need to enhance the efforts of our security forces in combating the increasing wave of criminal activities in all parts of the country, especially as the 2011 general election is at the corner.

“It is an opportunity for ICT industry operators to formulate an enabling framework for putting in place a communication system that will enhance our internal security network.

The former ATCON chief said the growing insecurity in the country had retarded the nation’s economic development, “as it creates fear in the minds of would-be investors’’.

“It diminishes the good image and reputation of Nigeria in the comity of nations, especially against the background of the war against terrorism.

“It also creates a deep sense of hopelessness and poor feeling of national well-being and restrain the movement of notable Nigerians and expatriates to certain areas of the country because of fear of being kidnapped or killed by hoodlums,’’ Ekuwem said.