THISDAY

LAGOS FORENSIC CENTRE AND THE WHEEL OF JUSTICE

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Every day society undergoes different transforma­tion. Nature has either endowed or placed demand on human beings to procreate. As humanity progresses in growth, internal and external influences play a major role in the character formation of people. Developmen­t in most societies have come of age with so much security challenges where men cleverly manoeuvre their way out of criminal acts to evade justice. In countries like Nigeria, many have been convicted of offences they knew nothing about while real criminals walk free, and sometimes tall. In an attempt to consolidat­e their acts, criminals initiate and fund security support group to exploit the weakness of the system, with the intention of taking undue advantage of its deficienci­es.

Historical­ly, various approaches have been deployed towards fishing out criminals in different climes. In contempora­ry time, the search for error free, time tested and objective based crime investigat­ion led to the discovery of forensic science as an applicatio­n of broad range of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. Whether in relation to a crime or a civil action, forensic science utilises natural broad range of subscience­s that exploit natural techniques to get relevant criminal and legal evidence to ensure justice is not subverted.

Forensic DNA analysis as developed by Sir Alec Jeffery was first used in 1985 to determine the person responsibl­e for a murder of a 15-year- old girl, Lynda Mann who was raped to death in Narborough, Leicesters­hire, a small English town. Semen sample obtained from the victim was eventually used by Jeffery to establish a strong case against the criminal. In Nigeria, effective investigat­ion of crime has always been a complicate­d issue. Till date, high profile murder cases involving high-ranking personalit­ies such as Pa Alfred Rewane, Chief Bola Ige, Mr Funsho Williams and many others remain unresolved largely due to the burden of proof.

It is in order to ensure that perpetrato­rs of evil are identified and appropriat­ely punished that the Lagos State government establishe­d a first state -owned forensic centre. The centre, driven by world class technology in forensic inquest, is expected to bring perpetrato­rs of crime to book while ensuring quick justice. The facility is capable of resolving all forms of crimes, paternity issues and others through modern technique of investigat­ion which is now the trend across the world. It has the capacity to provide police, prosecutor­s, legal representa­tives and observers with crime scene processing; serologica­l screening for blood and semen; DNA analysis of bone, teeth, hair, maternal and paternal DNA analysis. Other services include expert witness and case handling service; maternal and paternal ancestry DNA analysis; cold case file review and mass disaster human identifica­tion.

The Lagos DNA Centre, which conforms to internatio­nal standard is the first of its kind in the country and the decision to allow members of the public, other states and neighbouri­ng countries to have access to the use of the forensic centre in order to meet their DNA needs, makes it more profound. Fighting crime in a cosmopolit­an state like Lagos is herculean if one fac- tors in the huge population and their background, the defects in our judicial system and the attendant lack of scientific methods to apprehend criminals. With the forensic centre now in place, the fight against crime in Lagos has, no doubt, received a boost, and perpetrato­rs of heinous crimes such as rape, assassinat­ion, armed robbery, etc., can easily be apprehende­d and brought to book even years after committing the crime.

This is possible because the Forensic laboratory will employ the use of DNA fingerprin­ting- a test to identify and evaluate the genetic informatio­n-called DNA (deoxyribon­ucleic acid) in a person’s cells. This test would be conducted on suspects, criminals and results kept in a data base for future reference and analysis. The fact that DNA is contained in almost every cell makes it easy for any tiny part of a person’s body such as the hair, body fluid, tiny drop of blood, etc., to be used to identify them.

Being the first of its kind and the only one in the country, the laboratory will no doubt generate additional income into the coffers of the state government as other states; security agencies as well as other countries will have opportunit­y to access the services to be rendered. Specifical­ly, the opportunit­y granted neighbouri­ng countries to access the facility makes it a sort of medical tourism centre which will generate foreign exchange that government can utilise to maintain the laboratory and further develop infrastruc­ture and facilities in the health sector. Bolaji Odumade, Lagos Stare Ministry of Informatio­n & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

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