Security and intelligence experts have advised President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime to use artificial intelligence (AI) to fight Boko Haram, bandits and other criminals terrorising Nigeria.

The experts spoke at the 15th International Security Conference and Award (ISCA), organised by the International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS), on Saturday in Abuja.

Director General of IIPS, Tony Ofoyetan, said deploying drones would strengthen the fight against insecurity.

“There is need for more of technology in intelligence gathering and operational executions and the like. They need to understand the essence of inanimate intelligence, and that is actually the reason why we put on this conference,” he said.

Mr Ofoyetan also advised the regime to look at the security challenges beyond the perspective of military actions. He added that the government should interrogate the possibility of international sponsorship of the various security challenges bedevilling the country.

Another security and intelligence expert, Kabiru Adamu, said, “What this conference has done is to bring forward solutions using technology in managing insecurity in Nigeria. The reality is that technology is a force multiplier in a situation where you have paucity of funds, where you don’t have enough personnel, then technology is the natural fallback.”

He added, “That is what this conference is proposing. All the papers that were presented discussed solutions around the use of technology, particularly the use of AI. Looking at the EndSARS crisis when Nigeria was caught unawares, it’s obvious our security agencies were not prepared for the kind of modernisation that took place in cyberspace.”

The security expert added that Nigeria had no choice but to adopt technology in intelligence gathering to tackle the security challenges effectively.

Mr Adamu also called for the engagement of young people, especially experts in different aspects of cybersecurity, to support the military forces. 

(NAN)