Virgua, a Nigerian personal safety app due to launch publicly in the fourth quarter of 2026, is designed to make sure that if something goes wrong, the people who care about you know where to start looking. Its founder, Franklyn Eluagu, spoke to The Condia about how it works.
How it works
- Before you head out, whether on a date, a trip or a late night, choose who should be told if something goes wrong and how long you expect to be out.
- The app asks you to check in from time to time by tapping a private PIN.
- If you miss a check-in, it waits 15 minutes, then sends your contacts an SMS saying you have not checked in and may need attention.
- After another 15 minutes, the warning becomes an SOS with your live location, a short audio recording and a private page where your contacts can see whether you are moving.
- If your phone is switched off or loses its SIM, the app treats that as a warning sign and sends your last known location.
- With no internet at all, a physical SOS button sends the alert by SMS.
Alerts go only to the people you choose, not to the police. Eluagu says the gradual build-up is intentional, so families have time to prepare rather than being thrown into panic.
Privacy first
Eluagu secured certification from the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) through a licensed compliance organisation before the product was finished. Data is encrypted, servers are separated, and he says nobody on the team can see users’ locations. Users can end a session or delete their history at any time.
Business model
The premium tier costs a flat ₦2,500, priced against what people already spend on data. The app has been in development since September 2025, is self-funded, and has 50 beta testers. Eluagu, a marketing executive who still works full-time, built a community of more than 500 people in WhatsApp groups across the six geopolitical zones who share real-time alerts about accidents, road closures and curfews. His target is 100,000 users in the first year.
Why it matters
Insecurity is a daily concern for many Nigerians, and families often have no information to give the police when someone goes missing. Location-sharing features exist in WhatsApp and Google Maps, but Virgua’s check-in model is designed to raise the alarm automatically, even when the person cannot.
Source: The Condia.
