On 15th,
December, 2011, the President, Commander-In- Chief of the Armed Forces, Dr.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, ably represented by the Minister of Police Affairs,
Rtd. Cpt. Caleb Olubolade, as part of his transformation agenda, endorsed and
launched the Nigeria Police Force project to change the registration processes
of vehicles, tri-cycles and auto-bikeS from analog to digital, tagged Police Bio-metric
Central Motor Registration (BCMR).
Since then,
the Police authority and its technical partners have been test-running the
scheme to ensure a smooth transition in a way that would neither disturb
vehicle owners nor stress commuters, yet, achieve the fundamental , underlying
objectives of a new system that would guarantee safety and security of lives
and property. The pilot schemes in all the selected States and cities were a
huge success. This further reassured the Nigeria Police Force that the BCMR
project is a relevant concept whose time has come for Nigerian vehicle owners
to enjoy the global standards for safety of their vehicles which other people
have been enjoying in advanced, civilized societies all over the world.
WHY
DO WE CHANGE FROM CMR TO BCMR?
Last year,
we concluded a comprehensive audit of the operations and effectiveness of the
Central Motor Registration (CMR) system of recording and keeping tracks on
automobiles within the country. The audit became necessary because of the
rising wave of terrorism, kidnap, robberies, theft of automobiles, and other
criminalities committed with untraceable vehicles, tricycles and auto-bikes.
Our findings were mind-boggling.
To our
chagrin, we found out that because the CMR is largely conducted manually and at
best in some areas through analogue system, it is subject to a number of abuses
ranging from extortion to outright fraud. More importantly, there are numerous
cases of double registration, fake identifications, addresses, chassis and
engine numbers. This is what is responsible for the nightmares Nigerians, the
Police and our sister-security institutions face when automobiles are stolen or
used to commit crimes.
As part of
the transformation agenda of Mr. President and, the new direction of the
present leadership of the Nigeria Police Force under IGP M.D. Abubakar, to
re-position the Force as an efficient civil institution, we firmly resolved
that owners of automobiles in the country must enjoy the protection and safety
of their property as it is done in well organized society. This is why we
decided that it is time we moved from analogue means of registering automobiles
to digital storage of data on all automobiles as a matter of necessity.
THE
BIO-METRIC CENTRAL MOTOR REGISTRATION (BCMR)
The BCMR is
an advanced, digital means of storing data of automobiles. It is less
cumbersome and more precise than the CMR. More importantly, it is cost
effective as vehicles would be registered for Three Thousand and Five Hundred
Naira only (N3,500) while tri-cycles popularly called ‘’Keke Marwa’’ or ‘’Keke
Napep’’ and auto-bikes go for One Thousand and Five Hundred Naira (N1,500)
only.
The BCMR has
three means of registration which could be either through selected ten Banks
(Keystone Bank, UBA, Ecobank,
First Bank etc), on-line or at some Police Commands. In the case of the
Banks, car owners pay the registration fees at the Banks, collect their pin
numbers and proceed to the registration points for their registration; a
process that does not take more than ten minutes. You can also pay on-line, get
your registration pin, commence the pre-registration by yourself, filling the
details of your vehicle and personal data but the registrant would still have
to get a designated Registration Centre
to complete the registration process where his bio-data, photo and fingerprints
would be captured. In the Police Commands and other designated formations,
registrants would purchase a scratch card which would give pins to be used for
registration.
The requirements
for registration are the presence of the Car Owners, Vehicle License, Vehicle
Insurance, National Identification Card or International Passport or Voters’
Card and Proof of Ownership. The data to be captured include Names, Age, Sex,
Address, Next of Kin, Occupation, Phone Lines, and e-Mail which is optional.
After
registration, each automobile would have its identification numbers and cards.
At any point, through a hand-held gadget, the Police can confirm a registered
automobile and detect stolen automobile when stored data pops up
irregularities.
SIMPLE
BENEITS OF BCMR
· Automobiles
registered with digital BCMR can be easily traced and retrieved when stolen.
Similarly, in case of any accident or eventualities, families can be easily
located.
· BCMR
would greatly assist Security Operatives in the investigations and busting of
crimes especially those committed with automobiles anywhere in the country
because there is a scientific and reliable data base which the Force can resort
to.
· As
part of the on-going reform efforts, the Government in order to aid security
work has installed Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in strategic cities of the
country, just like the Banks and other strategic institutions have done.
However, with the BCMR, it would be easier to trace pictures which the CCTV
captures.
· BCMR
will help to maintain personal and national safety and security.
· It
helps in monitoring and tracking of vehicles, especially against theft and
other related crimes.
· BCMR
provides a reliable data base of vehicles and vehicle owners in the country.
SPECIAL
FEATURES OF BCMR
BCMR has the
following special features:
· Smart
cards which have the personal information of the vehicle owners as attached to
their vehicles on the cards
· Easy
verification of vehicle owner’s identity through a handheld card reader
· Easy
tracking and demobilization of stolen vehicles
· Incidents
can easily be reported at short intervals to field officers.
REGISTER
NOW!!!
The
Inspector General of Police, therefore, seizes this medium to advise the
general public and all existing automobile owners, including private and
corporate citizens to embrace the new technology, jettison the old one and
shift to the new BCMR. In other words, people who procure new vehicles should
take a cue and go for BCMR which has commenced nationwide.
We urge the
general public to cooperate with us for compliance to this scheme to guarantee
security and safety of our vehicles, tri-cycles, auto-bikes and lives.
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