The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, on Monday said the state DNA/Forensic Centre received over 350 applications covering different cases since inception.
Kazeem disclosed the statistics during the opening of the 5th Crime Scene Management Training for some police personnel at the Lagos State DNA/Forensic Centre on Lagos Island.
The commissioner said that over 50 of the cases had been resolved while others were still undergoing forensic analysis.
He said that owing to the high incidence of alcohol and drug related accidents and deaths in the state, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode approved the inclusion of a toxicology unit as an additional forensic section.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, had on Sept. 27, 2017, inaugurated the Lagos State DNA/Forensic Centre (LSD&FC) at Odunlami Street on Lagos Island.
The commissioner said that training police officers on forensic matter was important and apt.
He said that the results from the training would bring about better equipped and well informed personnel that would understand how to manage crime scenes.
“All over the world, crime scene management requires effective recognition and identification of physical and biological evidence.
“It also includes the collection and proper preservation of evidence, documents, and the scientific analysis of evidence and the presentation of impartial facts in the court of law.’’
Kazeem said that the Ministry of Justice had developed a close partnership with the Nigeria Police and the LSD&FC.
They had jointly conducted several trainings and seminars for police investigators and prosecutors, he said.
“The evolving partnership between the German Development Cooperation (GIZ),the Nigeria Police Forensic Team and the LSD&FC is significant and indeed a welcome development,” he said.
Earlier, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in charge of Training and Development, Mr Emmanuel Inyang highlighted what was required to fight crimes.
He said that crime fighting, prevention and prosecution required special skills, tactics and training to succeed.
Inyang noted that for modern-day crime investigators to perform their duties effectively, they must undergo sufficient training on regular basis to sharpen their skills.
He said that crime scene investigation was very critical in the duties of the police.
He stressed that the basic raw materials for forensic analysis in crime investigation were usually obtained at the scenes of crime.
“Effective and timely crime scene management and investigation will in most cases result in a positive outcome.
“Whereas, a shoddy crime scene investigation will often produce unresolved cases by the police which normally leads to failure of criminal charges in court,’’ he said.
The DIG commended the German Development Cooperation office in the country and other partners for the capacity building.
He urged the participants drawn from Oyo,Osun,Ondo,Lagos States as well as from Zone 11 to pay serious attention to the training.
The Deputy Project Manager of German Development Cooperation in Nigeria, Mr Hartmut Xander said the training was special.
He said that forensic analysis was the overall law process in any case.
Xander said he was happy to witness the joint training with the active involvement of the Lagos State Government.
He said he was optimistic that the participants would be taken through all the major forensic processes, including disaster management within the duration of the programme.
