Nigeria’s Ambassador-Designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has responded to growing public criticism over the ability of security agencies to swiftly track and arrest individuals linked to controversial social media posts while kidnappers and bandits continue to evade arrest.
Omokri’s comments follow reactions that trailed the recent announcement by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga that police operatives had arrested a suspect allegedly responsible for circulating an AI-generated audio falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu, as well as another individual accused of spreading alarm over security concerns in Abuja.
Following the arrests, many Nigerians questioned why security agencies appeared capable of locating social media users but struggled to apprehend bandits who frequently release videos online and openly display wealth.
Responding to the concerns in a Facebook post on Friday, Omokri argued that the circumstances surrounding the tracking of social media users and armed groups operating in forests were fundamentally different.
According to him, security agencies largely rely on digital intelligence tools that depend on telecommunications infrastructure and digital footprints left behind by suspects.
“Security agencies typically use a technique known as triangulation to track people using their digital footprints. For triangulation to work, you would usually need cell phone towers, routers, or other means of tracking and tracing IP addresses, phone numbers, or social media accounts,” he wrote.
Omokri explained that authorities could also obtain warrants to access information from telecommunications and internet service providers, enabling them to identify and trace suspects.
“Alternatively, after securing a warrant from a judge, they can request such data from your mobile phone and Internet provider, who will then use triangulation or cell-site simulators to track you down and pass your location to the appropriate authorities,” he said.
He noted that such techniques are generally effective in urban and populated areas where digital infrastructure exists.
He added, “Triangulation and other means of narrowing down your location work almost like science in urban and even rural areas. So, it is not difficult to trace people who live in cities, towns, and villages, once you have their digital footprints.”
However, Omokri said the situation becomes significantly more difficult in forests and other remote environments where telecommunications infrastructure is sparse or non-existent.
“However, in environments like deserts, forests, and oceans, where humans do not typically make their dwelling and therefore do not leave a digital trace, it can be challenging to track people using triangulation or other modern tracking techniques, which rely on infrastructure that is typically not found in these terrains,” he stated.
He added that the challenge becomes even greater when security agencies are attempting to locate constantly moving targets.
“Now, that difficult situation is made even harder when the targets to be located are moving,” he stated.
Using Oyo State as an example, Omokri said large forest reserves believed to harbour criminal groups present significant operational challenges for security agencies.
“Opara Forest in Oyo, where some cross-border bandits are suspected to operate, is roughly the size of Lagos State. The entire Lagos State is only slightly bigger. Opara Forest is half the size of the whole of Anambra State.”
He further argued that the absence of telecommunications infrastructure in such locations limits the effectiveness of digital tracking methods.
He added, ‘There are no cell phone towers or routers in Opara Forest. Please fact-check me. So, the ability to digitally trace these bandits using triangulation is severely limited.”
Omokri also referenced communities around Ogbomoso, where student teachers were recently abducted, saying network coverage in some affected areas remains weak.
“In fact, in the area around Ogbomosho, where the children were sadly abducted, which are the villages of Ahoro-Esinele, Yawota, and Alawusa, cell phone communications are extremely limited or nonexistent, because telecommunications firms, like MTN, and others, hardly have cell towers in those outlying towns.
“Drones are a good means of reconnoitring extreme environments. However, drones face significant challenges in thick forests, as they can only fly above the ground, and ground visibility is limited or even impossible because the trees obscure their cameras,” he added.
He added that rescue operations become more complicated when kidnappers use hostages as shields.
He said, “Additionally, when these bandits hold children hostage, even if you can somehow find them in the heavily forested areas they operate in, neutralising them poses another risk, because they tend to use their hostages as human shields.”
