New Satellites Will Track Criminals, Address Communication Gap In Military, Says NIGCOMSAT

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, says the agency’s upcoming NigComSat-2A and 2B satellites will play a crucial role in tackling insecurity by tracking criminals and solving communication breakdowns faced by military personnel on the frontline.

Egerton-Idehen spoke during an interview on Sunrise Daily, stating that the new space assets will enhance technical support for Nigeria’s defence and security architecture.

“Satellite comes in, and we can track criminals with it. Surveillance is part of the things you can do with satellites, yes. So, if there’s a kidnapping somewhere—because these are the actual realities that we’re dealing with—with the development of 2A and 2B, without divulging too much, there are a lot of ways you can do surveillance,” she said on Monday’s edition of the programme.

“If there’s a digital map there, that means if there’s access to technology, of course there are things you can track and survey. It depends on what’s on the person. Sometimes you can use imagery, like I’ve said. You can use imagery, especially if you have trackers. Without, you know, trying to be too detailed, yes, technology can be used for surveillance.”

She highlighted the communication challenges facing security forces during operations in remote places. According to her, some existing channels are often compromised, leaving troops cut off from command and control centres.

“We have our armed forces or the people in the defence sector, and sometimes their biggest challenge is communication. You’re going to put them in Sambisa Forest to go and fight there, and there is no way to talk to command and control. That is very difficult.

“And sometimes there is a way, but it’s not secure because it gets compromised, and they get compromised. That’s what we’re saying,” the NIGCOMSAT boss said.

But she explained that the high-capacity technology will help in addressing that.

“That’s what we want to enable our defence sector to do—and not just to enable them in a small way, but also at a large scale,” she said.
“So there’s a lot of focus to do this so that we can support them; they do need those tools.”

She appealed to Nigerians to be patient over the delivery timeline for the NigComSat-2A and 2B satellite projects and assured them that they have long-term benefits that will transform the country’s security architecture and digital economy.

Earlier in the month, the Nigeria Communications Satellite said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the purchase and deployment of NIGCOMSAT-2A and NIGCOMSAT-2B.

It said the two communications satellites will expand internet access and improve connectivity across Nigeria. The move is to ensure that communities across the country are not excluded from the digital economy.