The Nigerian Police Force’s ‘Rescue Me App’ has received over 10,000 fake emergency alerts in just four days.
This was stated by the Acting Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a tweet on his Twitter profile on Wednesday.
The police introduced the Rescue Me App to assist residents in distress in reporting crimes in their neighborhoods, with direct access to police helplines.
In his tweet, Adejobi noted that the fake emergency alerts by some citizens prank testing the service had resulted in heavy traffic on the system.
He advised Nigerians to only use the service when they truly needed it so that the police could assist those in need.
The FPRO also reaffirmed the app’s usefulness while calling for citizens’ cooperation with the police.
“On our NPF Rescue Me App, we want to urge Nigerians to please stop fake alerts. These are causing more harm to the system and jeopardising it. In the last four days, we have received more than 10,122 fake alerts.
“And that’s why we have heavy traffic on the system, thereby affecting the genuine callers. We have more than 5000 pending or awaiting OTP to proceed on the app; it’s due to this unnecessary heavy traffic on the system.
“We are sure the app is good, efficient and helpful; that’s why we initiated it to improve our security network. Pls, cooperate with us on this,” Adejobi stated.
Aside from criminal reporting, the Rescue Me App includes other features such as requesting an ambulance, an emergency contact feature, reporting a police officer, and navigation.
