Nigerian Students Wins $960,000 For Developing Wearable Technology To Address Abductions of School Children

Two female students in Nigeria have developed the idea of products that use wearable technology to help abate abductions in the country. Nigeria, located in West Africa, witnesses hundreds of kidnapping of students every year by the hands of Boko Haram, an Islamist fundamentalist terror outfit.

To tackle the country’s security, this duo- Chinoma Abone and Emmanuela Ilok-at Greenspring School, Lagos State in have developed the idea of a wearable device that alerts their families and friends whenever the concerned person is under threat.

Abone and Ilok presented the idea at this year’s Young Tycoon Business Conference, which saw roughly 7,000 participants from 80 countries. The duo emerged winners amongst the shortlisted 28 candidates and won prize money of $960,000.

The girls said that the inspiration behind their idea stemmed from the insecurity in the country.

“As students, we are not happy with the news of the constant abduction of fellow students in some parts of nigeria,’ they told reporters.

“So, we decided to work on an idea with a company called paramount guard, which seeks to offer security services to school students, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. The company plans to introduce Air Guard wearable, which pairs with the Air-Guard app to help students quickly alert family members and friends when in critical situation or a state of emergency,” the duo added.

Speaking to reporters, the innovators reckoned that they want to use the winning amount to invest in their security company and further develop both apps.