FG trains legal officers on forensic evidence

By Emeka Aginam

The Federal Ministry of Justice in partnership with First Digital & Techno-Law Forensics Co. Ltd., has trained legal officers in order to strengthen their capacity in the area of forensic evidence examination and presentation.

The training was also geared towards helping legal officers to have a good understanding of the nature and scope of digital and cybercrime. The four-day forensic evidence boot camp for legal officers of the ministry held at the Public Service Institute, Abuja, recently.

The Deputy Director of training at the ministry, Alhaja Ramatu Sabo Ahmed had  in an opening address stated that the objective of the training was to provide the participants with useful and modern techniques on cyber warfare and security, which included the prevention and detection of cyber/information security threats and professional handling of Forensic Evidence.

He further stated that the workshop was designed to help in the knowledge of skills required to enable lawyers assist tribunals.

According to him, “the coming into being of the new Evidence Act makes it very necessary to prepare you adequately in digital and computer forensics because a large percentage of all criminal cases today have one form of digital evidence or another.”

He implored participants to therefore take full advantage of the workshop and participate effectively so that at the end of the workshop the ministry would have lawyers who are better informed in the prevention and detection of digital and computer crime and who will support law enforcement agencies and the judiciary by skillful handling of digital evidence.

In his remarks, Dr. Peter Olu Olayiwola, the workshop director and president, Computer Forensics Institute, Nigeria (CFIN) said that his organization has concluded arrangements with First Digital & Techno-Law Forensics Co. Ltd. to offer a special scholarship for the training and certification of 1,000 new forensics examiners for Nigeria.