Bamise: Lagos introduces barcode tech in bus parks, garages to check crime

The Chairman of Lagos State Parks and Garages, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (Aka MC Oluomo), has announced the introduction of the Barcode technology to checkmate insecurity in the state.

According to him, the initiative will curb kidnappings and other criminal activities perpetrated by some commercial bus drivers.

What you should know: Bamise (Oluwabamise) Toyosi Ayanwole was a young Nigerian woman who was abducted on February 26, 2022, after boarding a BRT bus in Lagos, Nigeria and found dead 9 days later. Many more similar stories have been brought to light in the last few years.

Insecurity in Lagos: MC Oluomo noted that insecurity is a major concern to everybody in Lagos, and as stakeholders in the transportation sector, the agency cannot fold its arms and allow charlatans to turn their garages and parks into criminal hideouts.

What MC Oluomo said: “Our goal is to leverage technology to detect some criminal elements using our parks and garages to perpetrate crimes. We want to make our parks and garages as safe as possible. We will make the them hell for anyone with criminal intention,” he said.

He warned leaders of various parks and garages to weed out criminal-minded elements in their domains else would be held responsible for their actions.

What others think of the development: Speaking on how the Barcode technology works, Lagos State Parks and Garages Secretary, Comrade Olayiwola Lemboye, said commuters would download an app and scan the barcode on buses to confirm if they are safe for boarding.

“Once you scan the barcode on any bus, it will bring out certain information about the park or garage for commuters to determine if the bus is safe for boarding or not. For those who usually forget their ‘loads’ in the bus, the code will help passengers recollect the vehicle’s number plate and trace it to the park or garage such the vehicle operates from.

“We’re using this medium to urge the public to try as much as possible to key into this project because the barcode will assist in curbing the cases of kidnapping, theft and other societal vices people perpetrated with public buses. We are urging the public to just give us the benefit of the doubt on this project and key into it. It is for the good of all,” Lemboye said.

What barcode means: A barcode is a square or rectangular image consisting of a series of parallel black lines and white spaces of varying widths. Barcode stores product related data like the date of manufacturing, expiry date, name of the manufacturer, country of the origin and price quantity of the product, particular product number, person, or location.

What this means: The motor park barcodes may contain same information as car particulars/papers, and drivers' licence.