Exigency of a Top-notch National Crime Database, Forensic Laboratory

By

Don Okereke
(Security Analyst, Consultant) Email: donnuait@yahoo.com Twitter: @ donokereke Telephone: +2347080008285

The plethora of unresolved crimes-wanton killings, rape cases, kidnappings buoyed up by recent criminal trials and subsequent acquittals in Nigeria underscores the exigency of inter alia, a comprehensive national crime (DNA) database, sex offenders database, avant-garde police forensic laboratory, state-of-the-art gadgets and a competent police workforce. The benefits of the foregoing cannot be overemphasized. The dearth of a nation-wide computerized national crime database accessible in real time across the nook and cranny of Nigeria has far-reaching implications. For instance, there are reported cases of ex-convicts and notorious cultists serving in the Armed forces and the paramilitary agencies. There are also cases of dismissed personnels re-enlisting into the same agency or a different law enforcement agency with different names and information. This will also aid criminal record checks of prospective employees-Private Security Operatives, Teachers, Carers, Bank staff amongst others. What the Nigeria Police maintains right now in the name of database of convicted felons and a forensic laboratory is a travesty of what the aforementioned entails. If statements, case files, records of evidence are digitalized, backed-up and safeguarded, it will resolve the proclivity of cases being stalled and questionable acquittals because the case file, evidence mysteriously grew wings, got compromised before/during trial or could not withstand legal scrutiny. Granted that Nigerian law enforcement officers have their own shortcomings but training, re-training and equipping them with state-of-the-art facilities and gadgets will profoundly enhance their efficiency with a resultant spin-off vis--vis ensuring that innocent suspects are quickly let off the hook while guaranteeing that culpable suspects are not left out there to roam the street with impunity.

While the rest of the world are assembling a database of child sex offenders, paedophiles and prosecuting/taming them, Nigerias so-called distinguished Senators by acts of commission or omission are going the opposite route. It is a well established fact that in a criminal trial, the burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt. Hence a culprit can waltz free if the case against him cannot be substantiated beyond reasonable doubt. An iota of inconsistency, shoddy investigation, compromised evidence, wishy-washy prosecution and a mix of shrewd defence amongst others, has the potency to exonerate a suspect even when there are tell-tale signs the suspect may have been complicit. A typical example in the United States is the acquittal of 29-year old George Zimmerman for the seconddegree murder and manslaughter of 17-year old Trayvon Martin. A recent classic example in Nigeria is the protracted trial and subsequent acquittal of Major Al Mustapha and Shofolahan. There is a fast-flying insinuation that this judgement is a product of political permutation. Whether or not one concurs, it is a truism that the judgment of an appellate court invalidates that of the lower court. From the ambit of this judgement, we are made to believe that the initial conviction of the co-accused for the murder of Kudirat Abiola is incongruous. Ensuant to this latest judgement, one is not envious of the two accused for unnecessarily spending 15 years of their lives behind bars. It may be easy for an accused to wriggle free of a murder charge but will be a herculean task to be exonerated if charged for accessory before and after the fact or a lesser offence. This seriously calls for an overhaul of Nigerias justice system. However one is somewhat miffed by the interesting grounds, raison d'tre of acquittal which imputes shoddy investigation and prosecution. The appellate court

in its judgement strongly berated the Nigeria Police for a tacky investigation. In the words of the Judges, for an offence like murder, I wonder why the Nigeria Police did not do a proper investigation. The judgement went further to say, the prosecutions case has gapy loopholes; there are more questions than answers . This is not an isolated case of the Nigeria Police been chided. A salient question suffices: was it the Nigeria Police or the Nigerian Army authorities that investigated Al Mustapha et al? A while ago, the whistle blowing website Wikileaks disclosed how the Nigeria Police struggled to cope with the challenges of investigating and prosecuting suspected masterminds of the gruesome murder of the late attorney general of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige. According to a U.S Cable made public by Wikileaks, the investigators were described as being ill-equipped and under-trained especially in the handling of evidence. In 1995, Chief Alfred Rewane was brutally hacked to death in his bed in Lagos. The Nigeria Police arrested seven suspects five of whom died in detention because of the protracted prosecution. Sixteen years after their arrest, the two surviving suspects were discharged by a court for want of evidence against them. Just recently it came to the fore that exhibits (blood samples, virtuous humour of the eye amongst others) for the trial of the suspected killers of Funsho Williams, a Lagos State gubernatorial candidate in 2007 were damaged sequel to epileptic electricity supply at the Nigeria Police Forensic Laboratory. Another typical sloppy investigation and embarrassing scenario is the assassination saga of Olaitan Oyerinde, the late Principal Secretary to Governor Adams

Oshiomhole. Olaitans murder investigation pitched the Nigeria Police against the State Security Service with a lot of finger pointing culminating in both Security Agencies parading different sets of suspects for the same offence. With this development, the investigation and successful trial of the potential suspects appears to have been bungled ab initio. Just to refresh your mind, recall that notable assassinations like that of Dele Giwa, Chief Harry Marshal, Dr. Ayo Daramola, Theodore Agwatu, Sunday Ugwu, Mr. and Mrs. Barnabas and Amaka Igwe, Momoh Lawal, Rasak Ibrahim, Anthony Nwudu, Hajiya Saadatu Rimi amongst others remain unresolved. A penchant for unsuccessful prosecutions, conviction of culprits especially when they must have been complicit, profoundly emboldens them to dish out their trade with impunity. In view of the plethora of unresolved crimes in Nigeria, it is pressing that the Nigeria Police authorities put together a Cold Cases Department. A lot of times, investigations are not carried to a logical conclusion. Cases are swept under the carpet immediately there is a change of leadership, transfer or death of the Police Officer handling the case. The proposed Department will deal/brainstorm on unsolved Cases. In Europe and America 100 year old incidents/cases are still been dusted up and investigated because their government and the populace wants to know the truth and what transpired. A lot of times this have resulted in convicted criminals been set free and the real culprits put behind bars because of new evidence and advances in Science-DNA technology. With the help of DNA evidence and Carbon dating, 500 years after his death, a piece of bone was recently used to identify King Richard III of England!

Lately about 60 bodies were reportedly sighted floating on Ezu River in Amensea Anambra State. We dont need the expertise of rocket scientists to unravel the circumstances surrounding these heinous killings. A global best practice would have been to conduct an autopsy before burial. Yes, advances in DNA technology can still piece together some forensic evidence after burial but many of the evidence may have disappeared or unwittingly compromised especially when a chain of custody is not properly maintained. If an autopsy establishes bullet wounds on those bodies, are those bullet wounds compatible with Nigeria Police Bullets or ammunitions? DNA evidence will also establish inter-alia the nature/cause of death (strangulation, bullet injury etc) and the approximate time of death. In advanced climes, this whole exercise will not take more than 96 hours! Despite the brouhaha this incident generated, it is yet to be resolved. The Ombatse Cult group purportedly killed about 90 or so Police and State Security Service (SSS) officers and several weeks later, Nigerians are not aware any arrest have been made let alone prosecution. Instead of working round the clock to fish out masterminds of this heinous crime, the Director General of the SSS opined they have forgiven the Ombatse for killing its officers and men. In the light of this, we need to take a cue from a few countries that are serious with tackling crime and insecurity. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is said to keep a National Crime Information Centre (NCIC). The NCIC maintains a computerized index of Criminal justice information encompassing criminal record history information, fugitives, stolen properties, missing persons amongst others. The NCIC database is available in REAL TIME (computer systems that update information at the same rate they receive information) to federal, state

and local law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies. It is also operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All information in the database is protected from unauthorized access through appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards such as alarm devices, passwords and encrypting data. Similarly the United States department of justice coordinates a searchable National Sex Offenders Public Website (NSOPW). On their own, the United Kingdom has a National DNA Database (NDNAD) and also a Violent and Sex Offenders Register (ViSOR). The UKs sex offender disclosure scheme allows parents, Carers and guardians to formally ask the police to tell them if someone has a record for child sexual offences. A while ago police in Birmingham, West midlands, United Kingdom did a trial run of a high-tech mobile fingerprint scanner named MobileID which allows law enforcement agents to obtain the fingerprint of a suspect on the street in seconds. The pocket-sized gadget is linked via satellite to UKs National Fingerprint Database and instantly alerts officers if a scanned fingerprint belongs to a convicted criminal. The concerns of right groups and individuals are allayed because this device is only used to scrutinize prints against the National Database and does not permanently store scanned images. The illustrations from the aforementioned countries were highlighted to buttress what the construct of crime fighting should be in the 21 st century. Using the aforementioned countries as a benchmark, can our government and specifically the Nigeria Police authorities convince Nigerians they are doing enough to fight crimes and insecurity?

Advances

in

Information

and

Communication

Technology

(ICT)

have

revolutionized the concept of law enforcement. In most advanced countries, rather than brandishing archaic Ak47 rifles, it is common to see Police officers armed with Palmtops, Tablet PCs, and latest telecommunication gadgets on their bits with which they relay information to their respective offices in real time. There is a strong case for the provision of inter alia, Automatic Number Plate Recognition Systems for the Nigeria Law Enforcement agencies. This surveillance System uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on images to read vehicle registration plates. This can help determine who a particular vehicle was/is registered to incase a car is used for terrorism/crime. In addition to real-time processing of license plate numbers, an Automatic Number Plate Recognition System can store images, dates, times and GPS coordinates that can help to pinpoint a suspect at a crime scene. Its other applications include fishing out Car insurance defaulters, witness identification, electronic toll collection, road traffic management and monitoring border crossings. With advances in military technology-Kevlar, airborne lasers, antimatter weapons, case-less ammunitions, electromagnetic weapons, and particle beam weapons, I cringe each time I see our Police officers struggling to move swiftly with their heavyweight bullet proof vests. Nigerian law enforcement officers reportedly do well when they go for foreign operations but are incessantly found wanting when they operate within Nigerian soils. It goes within saying that environment plays a role. The Police is a microcosm

of the larger society, no wonder they are not divorced from the unprecedented corruption, culture of impunity, inefficiency inherent in the larger Nigerian system. Rather than chasing shadows, buck-passing, and their gung-ho kneejerk approach to crime fighting, Nigerias law enforcement authorities must be more proactive and less reactionary. Rather than devoting thousands of man-hour hounding vehicle owners with tinted glasses, perhaps Nigeria Police authorities should sort out a computerized nation-wide database of convicted felons and a top-notch forensic laboratory.