By Sola Ogundipe, Evelyn Usman, Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsurs Olowoopejo

Lagos—The Lagos State government is establishing the first  high-powered Deoxyribonucleic Acid or DNA Forensic Laboratory in Nigeria to take off within the next six to 12 months.

The lab, which is to be known as the Lagos State DNA Forensics Centre, LSDFC, will fulfil an unmet need for DNA profiling which is a unique forensic technique now being used all over the world.

Currently there is no forensic laboratory in the country and cases of mysterious deaths, murders, robberies, kidnappings and other high-level crimes requiring forensic tests and investigations have either gone unresolved are referred to foreign countries.

The Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, who disclosed this yesterday, said establishment of the Centre was in furtherance of the commitment of the Lagos State Government to the criminal justice sector reforms and its resolve towards fighting all forms of criminality.

Kazeem, said the facility, which would be of international standard, would be driven by the Ministry of Justice with active support of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, and will focus on DNA analysis to support the justice sector in diverse areas such as “collection and preserving reference and evidential DNA which can later be used in identifying criminals; decoding familial relationships of individuals which could also be a tool for the judicial system; and identifying victims and remains after natural and man-made calamities.”

“DNA profiling is an extraction of DNA from body fluids, semen, nails, hair and other DNA generic sources. The Centre would greatly help to controvert evidence of alibi and confirm physical presence of suspects at the scene of a crime and the origin of DNA to such suspects.

“Even though the role of DNA in forensics, law enforcement and the justice sector is well known globally, a high-powered DNA analysis centre is not available in Nigeria. This means that most, if not all the DNA testing needs are performed outside Nigeria, a situation that leads to longer turnaround times and an overall higher cost of bringing closure to investigation and prosecution of crimes,” Kazeem stated

Further, he said when operational, the proposed Centre will serve the DNA needs of the state, members of the public, other states and neighbouring countries, while all stakeholders including security agencies would benefit from it.

On the areas of focus, Kazeem said the Centre would be deployed for criminal investigation to identify criminals with incredible accuracy and exonerate suspects mistakenly accused or convicted of crimes.