The Chairman and the CEO of E. F Network limited, Gideon Egbuchulam says the company introduced its anti-phone theft solution to assist government in tackling the increasing wave of kidnapping and other related crimes across the country.
Egbuchulam disclosed this in an interview with Vanguard yesterday in his office in Maitama, Abuja. He insisted that the application when installed on a phone will reduce the number of phone related crimes, which the Nigeria Police respond to on a daily basis across the states in Nigeria, in particular, where the victims are injured or even killed.
According to him, another beauty of the app is that the icon on the phone can be hidden where the thief won’t even know it is installed and codes or PIN only known to the owner is used to operate the phone remotely. The E. F Network limited recently launched an app called efphonetaxi, to assist phone secure their phones from theft and also assist the security agencies reduce crimes in the country.
He explained that the technology boasts of retrieving all the stored data contained in any lost phone and the phone remote controlled by the owner or any authorized partner through a command from alternative network source. With the new the app installed on a phone, Egbuchulam said ‘‘loss of phones and all data contents are over as Efphonetaxi can now locate a missing phone, retrieve its contents and then renders it useless when remotely locked, adding that it can also even facilitates the arrest of the thief.’’ On what prompted the decision, he said, ‘‘I feel concerned about what Nigerians are passing through in terms of insecurity. My motivation is to contribute to the safety of Nigerians.
‘‘In the world we live today, no security agency can use old approach to achieve results. We can’t fight insecurity with bullets and guns but with modern technology. ‘‘The security agencies, for us need to embrace modern technologies to achieve results. To us, this is a social responsibility, saving lives and property. It is our Corporate Social Responsibility . Every Nigerian should commit to making Nigeria safer and making the security agencies more effective.’’ On the acceptance of the technology, the E.F Network Chairman said: ‘‘We are very pleased with the cooperation we receive from the security agencies so far.
This is the kind of relationship that can make Nigeria safer. ‘‘We are also encouraged by the overwhelming reception Nigerians have given to the app, despite the network challenge, which has prompted us to commence move for the launch of our own network soon.’’
Speaking on the various packages, the Chairman said the company designed the product in both individual and group packages for those who may want to purchase at cheaper rate. Speaking on what makes the product unique, he said ‘‘We are the only phone anti-theft provider in the world with live customer service center. Another irony of efphonetaxi app is that E.F. Network does not know the identity of subscribers, because subscribers do not have to use their real names to register. On affordability, he said the app is currently being installed at the promotion price of N2,000 till January, when the promo will end.
He said any subscriber can use any name as username and not real name and also use any Gmail account. ‘‘We are only protecting the phone and giving tools for owners to regain control of their phones and equally retrieve their stored information remotely.
‘‘Once the phone is stolen the owner is required to remotely lock that phone, perform search options or retrieve his/her stored information out of the phone before wiping the data on the phone out to prevent abuse. ‘’ ‘‘Once the preliminary search is done and phone not found, the owner is required to send a command which will retrieve all saved data (contents) and those on memory disc to the owners registered email.
After the owner has retrieved all his information, he or she can erase or wipe out the entire phone’s data; including those on the memory disc. That prevents unauthorized user from accessing anything on the stolen or lost phone. Even when the thief changes the SIM, information on that new SIM would be sent to the owner,’’ he added. He warned that anybody buying a stolen phone with efphonetaxi app is just giving up him/herself up for arrest or wasted money. Vanguard News Nigeria
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