As concerns about insecurity continue to shape everyday life for millions of Nigerians, a Lagos-based startup, Virgua, is set to launch a personal safety app.

‎Three in four Nigerians describe the country as an unsafe place to live, while more than six in 10 say they have felt unsafe walking in their own neighbourhood in the past year, according to a nationally representative Afrobarometer survey.

‎Virgua aims to turn the informal safety practices many Nigerians already rely on, telling relatives where they are going, sharing their location and confirming they have arrived safely, into an automated system.

‎The app allows users to select emergency contacts who can receive their live location while they are out. It can also alert those contacts when a scheduled check-in is missed or when the user activates an alarm.

‎The startup is also developing an feature designed to identify possible signs of distress and a community feed intended to provide verified, real-time safety information from users.

‎Virgua’s founder, Franklyn Eluagu, said, “Technology should do more than connect us, it should protect us.”

‎Eluagu, a communications and marketing executive, is developing the company alongside a design and development team while continuing his role at Planet Bottling Company, where he leads communications for American Cola, Reaktor Energy Drink, Planet and Bubble Up.

‎He said the idea for Virgua came from a private family experience involving someone close to him who was in trouble. The experience, he said, exposed how difficult it can be for loved ones to know when something has gone wrong or what action to take.

‎“The problem was never that people don’t care about their own safety. It is that the caring has nowhere to live, so it sits in a text message that might not be sent, in a phone that might die, or in a sister who might be in a meeting when it matters most,” he said.

‎Eluagu said the company is currently working through the regulatory requirements needed ahead of a wider rollout in Nigeria.

‎ He had previously worked in digital communications for the Imo State government, digital strategy at Persianas Group, and social media at EbonyLife Films, Studios and the Creative Academy.

‎He said that experience has shaped his approach to building a safety product where users must be willing to trust the technology with sensitive information, particularly their location.

‎“You are asking someone to hand over their live location. That is an enormous amount of trust to ask of a stranger, and no amount of clever engineering earns it on its own.”

‎Eluagu holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Imo State University and a master’s degree in Digital Marketing and Business Transformation from Rome Business School. He is a member of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom.

‎Rather than focusing primarily on download numbers, Eluagu said he wants Virgua to change how Nigerians think about personal safety.

‎“We plan for our health and we plan for our money, yet nobody plans for their safety out loud. I want to take it out of the whisper,” he said.
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