The nation was recently rocked by the murder and rape of a 22-year-old student, Uwavera Omozuwa in a church, and the death of a 16-year old girl identified as Tina in the hands of a Nigerian police officer. Since these two tragic events occurred, indignant hashtags such as #JusticeForTina, #JusticeForUwa, #WeAreTired and #SayNoToRape have dominated the Twitter space.
Nigeria is not new to such occurrences. For a long time, insecurity in the form of robberies, kidnap, police brutality, rape, and many more vices have plagued the nation, posing significant problems to Nigerians.
Read more about Mobile Apps
The hashtags shared on Twitter reflect the mindset of a people who have since longed for the intervention of their government to bring an end to the vices prevalent in the country.
While these hashtags are surely created from a place of good intention, they would produce better results if they are targeted towards the bodies and organisations responsible for protecting the lives and property of citizens – the government and law enforcement agencies.
As individuals, we can do our best by taking the necessary steps to ensure our safety. One man identified as Thinking Man on Twitter has decided to make his own contribution by providing a distress and safety app called TrackAm.
Thinking Man announced the launch of the app on Monday, describing it as an SOS app that can be activated in life-threatening situations.
Meet TrackAm
TrackAm works by collecting information such as photos, voice-notes and real-time location of a person who is in danger. The app sends the information to anyone who can be of help such as family, loved ones, or security agencies.
How To Activate The App
On installing TrackAm, you are required to permit the app to access various features on your phone so that it can work effectively. Next, you will need to add your preferred contacts such as friends, family, and loved ones. These people will receive your SOS alert in case of an emergency.
Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
For people faced with robbery, kidnap, or assault of any kind, shaking their phone or pressing the SOS button on the app will activate a countdown mode. This countdown mode will give the option to stop or continue with the SOS.
If they click on “continue”, the app will start collecting discrete information such as photos, voice notes, and their location. It will then send this info in a link, as a message, to their trusted contacts for required action.
TrackAm also provides users with updated and verified safety tips and emergency helplines even when they are offline. It contains step by step procedures on what to do for different emergency situations.
TrackAm is indeed a welcome development in the country. It can go a long way in putting a check on criminal activities if it lives up to expectations.
TrackAm is available on the Google Play store at a downloadable size of 2MB. It requires android devices ranging from 7.0 and above.
Click the link below to download the app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navyandred.trackamsos&hl=en
Got a suggestion? Contact us: editor at connectnigeria dot com