A Bill for an Act to provide for the licensing and regulation of private detectives and investigators has been read for the second time in the Senate. The Bill seeks to incorporate the private sector in the detection and investigation of crimes in Nigeria.

Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary session of Wednesday, 30 May 2018, the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu (PDP: Enugu) stated that the Bill‘s objective was to enhance the efforts of security agencies to promptly detect crime. He also noted that the inclusion of the private sector in criminal investigations could reduce the number of cases by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) that failed to lead to an arrest or the successful prosecution of perpetrators of various crimes.

Sen. Ekweremadu mentioned that some of the responsibilities of the Private Detectives and Investigators would include the protection and verification of information, conducting background checks and profiling of individuals. He further explained that the passage of the Bill would provide job opportunities for the unemployed, improve the effectiveness and performance of the NPF, license private detectives and investigators and enhance public security systems.

The Bill has been referred to the Committee on National Security and Intelligence for further legislative scrutiny and expected to report back their findings in four weeks.