J017555559

IOSR Journal of Computer Engineering (IOSR-JCE)
e-ISSN: 2278-0661,p-ISSN: 2278-8727, Volume 17, Issue 5, Ver. V (Sep. – Oct. 2015), PP 55-59
www.iosrjournals.org
DOI: 10.9790/0661-17555559 www.iosrjournals.org 55 | Page
Web-Based Location-Aware System Architecture for Combating
Electoral Criminal Activities in Nigeria
Nnebe S. E.1
, Ijomah O.2
, John-Otumu M. A.3
& Eriata U. F.3
[1, 2]
Department of Computer Science, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
[3]
Directorate of Information & Communication Technology, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
Corresponding Authors: nnebese@yahoo.com, adetokunbo@aauekpoma.edu.ng
Abstract: The proliferation of computational capabilities of location aware technology has made them viable
medium for carrying out a wide range of activities, involving information exchange. One area where location
aware technology is gaining great usefulness in society is electoral crime detection, reporting and combating.
Looking at the just concluded election in Nigeria, one major problem hindering electoral crime detection and
reporting is lack of efficient communication platform between the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), police, various security personnel and the general public. The general public, Police and the INEC lack
a common platform for exchanging real time information about criminal activities, electoral crime suspects and
those under investigation for various crimes. Lack of readily accessible information of electoral crime trends in
major towns and cities is also a key setback to electoral security needs. In this research paper, a location aware
service infrastructure for detecting, reporting and tracking down electoral criminal perpetrators is proposed.
This is based on the client-server architecture; allowing users (the general public) to exchange various
categories of electoral crime/criminal related information with INEC in real time is designed. The system is
recommended for the local, state and federal government authorities in Nigeria.
Keywords: Location-Based Services, Electoral Crime, INEC, GPS, LPS.
I. Introduction
Electoral crime is part and parcel of human nature and society in most democratic settings. That is why
no society can claim to be completely electoral crime free. But the types of criminal behavior tend to follow the
pattern of social and economic development of a given society. It is therefore not unexpected that a society at a
low level of development and uneven distribution of income (and wealth), tends to experience an upsurge in the
rate of violent crimes such as politically motivated killings, snatching of ballot boxes, rigging election,
falsification of results, the use of illegal weapons, ethnic and religious clashes and the like.
What is worrisome, however, is that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and
police which are meant to be the antidote to electoral criminality appear to be getting overwhelmed by the
phenomenon. The electoral criminals appear to be ahead of the INEC / police such that the latter now only react
to the commission of crimes and usually after the offenders might have left the scene making things appear as if
the original emphasis on crime prevention has been completely lost. Aside other complaints, there are
institutional constraints, which contribute to the uncomplimentary image of the police and thereby undermining
their capacity to deliver efficient crime control via proper and prompt investigation and policing services. These
include inadequate manpower, lack of expertise, lack of adequate equipment, low level of education, low
morale, lack of training facilities, lack of technological knowhow, etc.
In developed countries; computers have been used in detecting and combating crime for some decades.
Computer-Based Criminal Records Systems were the first of such systems deployed as an attempt to record a
person’s criminal history. Before the introduction and the application of computers in criminal records, crime
investigation and detection; most criminal records or other criminal related activities were carried out using the
manual or traditional approach in the process of data processing, which involves the use of paper files, manual
skills and the human brain. Recent researchers have identified computer networks platforms and devices as
possible tools for effective crime detection and reporting. Technological advancements have led to the invention
of extremely powerful mobile handheld devices and have brought about large and high speed data transfer
capabilities through mobile communication networks. Functions of data processing devices like computers have
evolved from merely data storage to performing complex computations over the past three decades. [1], [2]
The high computational power of some computer devices like smart phones, tablets and PDAs accounts
for their high demand and usage by the general public. Smartphone shipments worldwide reached 485 million in
2011, increased to about 655million in 2012, and expected to rise over one billion smart phones by 2016[3]
.
Another key factor making computer and network technology viable medium for fighting crime is the
advancement of cellular networks technologies. The introduction of 3G / 4G cellular network technologies by
the most mobile network operators has improved the communication demands for mobile users [4]
. With these

Web-Based Location-Aware System Architecture for Combating Electoral Criminal Activities…
two factors in place, development of dedicated location awareness platforms for detecting and reporting criminal
activities is of great importance.
This research paper proposes a client / server architecture solution for combating electoral crime. This
proposed platform will be implemented as a software security assistant to the Nigeria police force for
metropolitan crime control.
II. Literature Review
2.1 Location-Aware Service Platform
Location-aware is one of the drivers of the ubiquitous computing paradigm. With sales of hardware and
software for Location Based Services (LBS) of about 175 million EUR in Western Europe in 2008, the market
for LBS is rapidly growing and may exceed 560 million EUR by 2011. The major driver of LBS is the GPS
technology in mobile phones, where 40% of the smart phones shipped in 2008 have GPS built-in. Besides GPS,
LBS can also be achieved by mapping GSM cell ids or WiFi networks to geographic locations (e.g. Google or
Skyhook Wireless). While most LBS are offering navigation and routing services, and come in the form of
highly specialized hardware devices (e.g. from companies like Garmin or TomTom), a wide range of mobile
phone software for LBS is rapidly entering the market. Popular examples include friends’ tracking and tracing
(e.g. Google Latitude1), tourist and city guides (e.g. wikitude2), and location-based safety advice (e.g. iSafe3).
Although all these applications offer specific functions to mobile phone users, and need to be downloaded and
installed on the mobile phone “one-by-one”, all of them are actually implementing the exact same process of
accessing the device’s location, transferring it to a server application, and receiving and displaying the location-
based information. The wide range of mobile platforms (e.g. different Symbian editions, Blackberry, iPhone,
Windows Mobile, Google Android, etc.) and software development environments, as well as the fast life cycle
of mobile phones and their operating systems make such distribution approach an expensive task.
However, today’s commercial applications in the context of location awareness are usually limited to a
dedicated purpose and scenario. Examples are navigation systems, combining GPS position data with motion
sensors of the vehicle, traced within an electronic map. Traffic jam warning systems with GSM-based
information delivery already utilize location information from the GSM cellular structure. In-house localization
technology provides knowledge about the vicinity where staff or equipment is located. As these examples show,
the scenarios are spread over separate, sometimes dedicated, devices due to lack of general integration and a
unifying platform.
2.2 Computerized Crime Detection and Criminal Tracking Systems
The advancement of computer technologies has led to more effective ways of detecting and fighting
crime in a given society [5]
. Today, engineers and researchers have proposed and developed a number of
computer based systems, especially for crime detection and reporting. This section presents an overview of
some of the most powerful computer based crime fighting systems developed within the past few years. The
overview pays attention to functionalities and principles of operations of these systems. Crime Stoppers, New
Orleans has launched a new free mobile crime-fighting application for Android and iPhone platforms, called Tip
Submit [6]
.
The application was created by Tip Soft and Crime Reports and is known to be the first anonymous top
submission mobile software. By design, Tip Submit allows citizens to submit crime tips to Crime stoppers
securely and anonymously. The system identifies tipsters by their tip number only, which it assigns to the tip.
The Mobile App allows tipsters to upload photos or video and is able to send the location of the video by a GPS
locator. Other key feature of Tip Submit is that, it has no limits on the amount of text as with sending SMS text
messages. Also, it maintains two-way dialogue and real-time chat between the tipster and Crime stoppers.
Engineers in the University of Virginia have development software which helps the Police easily access
crime data online. The system, called Webcast allows establish trends on the data, showing the types of crimes
that commonly occur, and the places with which they are associated. By typing in specific dates, types of
crimes, locations, and selecting names of weapons used, Web-Cat produces graphs, reports, and maps of high
crime areas. Another powerful computer based crime fighting tools is Mobile Vic PD [6]
.
Mobile Vic PD is a recently released mobile application, by the Victoria Police in Canada for fighting
crime. The mobile application can be used to report minor crimes. It offers anonymous tips to police, stay
updated on crimes in progress, receive missing child reports or check on stolen property. Accurint is produced
by LexixNenxis for the iphone and ipad. This Mobile app connects government and law enforcement agencies
to more than thirty billion public records and critical investigative tools needed to verify information in the field,
and rapidly follow-up on new leads as they develop. The most widely used tactical led generation tool for law
enforcement in the United States is Cop Link Mobile Plus app, developed by i2 [7]
. The app runs on iphones,
ipads and Android platforms. The app enables officers to achieve better situational awareness with automated

geospatial searches of recent events, as it allows the searching of state and local criminal records from multiple
jurisdictions’ databases.
Another great feature of the app is its ability to organize vast quantities of seemingly unrelated data to
assist in making tactical, strategic and command-level decisions. IPOL-mobile is an iPhone application used for
crime fighting by Police in Geneva, Switzerland [6]
. It enables the police to have immediate access to various
information such as the latest burglary or violence incident as well as the identities of culprits of such crimes.
With the help of this application, officers can track ownership information of vehicles by simply entering its
number plate into the Smartphone application. Officers can also get important real time information about their
duties (patrol hours and location), police directories, lawyers and translators and their availability hours using
the application.
III. Methodology
This research paper proposes a system architectural design of a web based location-aware system
infrastructure for combating electoral crimes in Nigeria to assist Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) officials and the general public fight electoral criminal activities like snatching of electoral ballot boxes,
permanent voters card (PVC) readers, computers and so on within a given metropolis. The infrastructure also
serves as a common platform for both the INEC and the general public to interact and exchange information
about electoral criminal activities and to track crime perpetrators via global positioning system (GPS). The
system must be ensure ready and up to date information access of electoral crime suspects and criminal
activities in all localities within the metropolis for facilitating the tracking down of electoral crime perpetrators.
3.1 The Proposed System Architectural Framework
The propose system architecture is client / server based. The client side will be a web application
running on the client devices of the users (INEC / general public). Information about electoral criminal activities
and crime perpetrators are uploaded onto the server by the INEC and partly by the general public remotely.
Application running on the users’ handheld device like smart phones, PDA, etc will communicate directly to the
server; retrieving and providing real time information about electoral crime and criminal activities of places
within the metropolis. The basic concept of the system architecture is shown in figure 1.
Figure 1 Propose system architectural framework
Figure 1 shows the client / server based architectural system for combating electoral criminal activities
using location aware system. The system architectural framework has three (3) major environments namely:
INEC Office environment, environment for election activities, and public domain or environment. In the
election activities environment special GPS sensors are placed on physical equipment or devices like the laptop
computers used for registration exercise, electoral ballot boxes, PVC card readers / machines and so on should
in case they are snatched by hoodlums during election periods or stolen by thieves.
These sensors when fully deployed and activated on the electoral devices / components will ensure the
real time transmission of signals between the devices or components they are installed on and the server within

the INEC office. The movement of these devices within the electoral environment or the metropolis can easily
be tracked at real time as the case may be via GPS and the developed application on server side application.
In the INEC office / general public environment, users can perform the following activities using the
system by upload:
1. Upload of Crime Related Information:
There are three categories of information which the INEC / general public can upload onto the server
resident in their environment. The categories are as follows:
(a) Descriptions of people on INEC wanted list and their related electoral criminal records / information can be
uploaded through various INEC users’ client devices to the SERVER.
(b) Tip-offs of on-going electoral crimes: Information about criminal activities which are currently taking place
during elections can also be uploaded by client devices by both the public and INEC officials via a web
based interface on their client devices.
(c) Descriptions of criminals on police wanted-list can also be uploaded onto the server by both the public and
INEC officials.
3.2 How the Propose Architecture works
Personal details or at least descriptions of criminals on police wanted-list are uploaded onto the server.
Common information about such criminals may include: Name, age group, facial looks, complexion, weapons
in possession, crime involved, other crimes associated with in the past, etc. Missing items reports containing the
description of items that are reported missing; such information is uploaded onto the server by the police / INEC
administrator in the metropolis.
Information regarding such items may include name of item, description, the last time and the place
where the item was last seen are also captured. Various categories of tip-offs are also uploaded to the server.
Any member of the general public who has the app running on his mobile phone can conveniently and silently
post suspicious activities of the vicinity to the server for action to be taken by INEC officials or police.
They can also report people whose descriptions match those on the police wanted list by uploading
information quietly on the server using the mobile app, this will lead to the arrest of such criminals. On the other
hand, items found matching the description of items in the Police list of missing items are also uploaded onto
the server by the general public therefore the Police can retrieve such mission items (e.g. ballot boxes). Both the
INEC, Police and general public use the same client information on their mobile devices to interact with the
server, but only the INEC and the Police have the privilege of accessing of different sort of information from the
server.
In the case of INEC device or component theft or snatching in election environment to any part of the
metropolis, the INEC administrator can quickly and easily track such device(s) or component(s) by using the
application navigation system via the GPS to trace the deployed sensor that must have been fully
activated/embedded within the device(s) stolen or snatched as the case may be.
Coordinates will be plotted immediately within the metropolis and the location will be detected and
reported accordingly. The location will be stored on the server and other permitted users can also access the
information via their client devices by connecting to the server via the intranet WiFi Cloud or the Internet.
IV. Conclusion and Recommendations
This research paper presents a unique system architectural framework for merging web based
application and location aware services (LAS) to combat electoral criminal activities in Nigeria. It also identifies
the usefulness of location aware services technology in combating electoral criminal activities in a given
metropolis using Global Positioning System (GPS) Technology and within a specified environment using
Location Positioning System (LPS) via Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) WiFi technology. It usefulness
can effectively bridge the communication gap between the INEC, police and the general public in electoral
crime fighting before, during and after election activities. A location aware service technology framework has
been suggested based on the client / server model.
The architectural design based its viability largely on the presence of stable cellular network
connectivity and assumes that, Smartphone usage is common among the general public which can also be used
for accessing the location-aware service platform. The system is highly recommended for both the local / state
and federal government of Nigeria to effectively and efficiently combat electoral crimes in a digital sense.
References
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Professional, December 15, 2010. Web ISBN-10: 0-13- 248447-1

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