The Lagos State DNA Forensic Centre, planned to be inaugurated in the first quarter of 2017, promises to change the narratives of unresolved criminal cases in Nigeria, RAMON OLADIMEJI reports

On June 30, 2014, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo (retd.), sitting at the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere, delivered judgment in the murder case of a top Lagos politician, Engineer Funsho Williams, who was strangled to death by unknown assailants on July 27, 2006 in his Dolphin Estate home, Ikoyi, Lagos.

In his judgment, delivered eight years after Williams’ assassination, Justice Adebajo discharged and acquitted the six persons charged by the police with the killing of Williams.

The grounds of the judge’s decision were that the evidence adduced by the state were “manifestly unreliable” and did not support the two counts of conspiracy and murder pressed against the defendants by the state.

“I am satisfied that the deceased has been shown to have died, but it remains at large, after the conclusion of prosecution’s case, as to the person or persons who caused his death.

“The pathologist who said the deceased died by strangulation did not allude to any of the defendants as having carried out the act, he was never asked. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that the death of the deceased resulted from the act of any of the defendants,” Justice Adebajo held as he freed the defendants, who were mainly domestic servants and security detail attached to the late Williams.

Though the prosecution team, led by Mrs. Idowu Alakija, took turn after the defence counsel, Mr. Agbara Okezie, to thank Justice Adebajo “for a well-considered judgment,” the disappointment of losing a case and getting no justice for the Williams etched on their countenance could not be mistaken as they packed their files and left the courtroom.

Outside, in the foyer of the courtroom, emotions were let loose. The six freed defendants – Bulama Kolo, Musa Maina, David Cassidy, Tunani Sonani, Imariebe Okponwasa and Kayode Mustapha – broke down in tears.

They bewailed the misfortune which befell them and sent them into captivity for eight years, seven out of which the police spent conducting investigations, fishing for Williams’ killers.

Okponwasa, a policeman, was found on his knees, his eyes raised heavenwards, saying in tears-stricken voice, “I was locked up for eight years for a crime I did not commit. My wife left me; my mother suffered a stroke and has not recovered.”

Mustapha mourned the death of his baby, whom he never set his eyes on, because his wife had only been pregnant with the child when his (Mustapha’s) ordeal began. She gave birth to the child in Mustapha’s absence and the child equally died within the eight years that Mustapha was locked away.

Mustapha’s mother would also never set eyes on him again because the old woman had lost her sight to years of endless tears, anguished by the misfortune that befell his son.

The failure to narrow down to Williams’ killer occasioned injustice to the deceased, his family, the state and the six defendants who were wrongfully prosecuted. The injustice became more painful because the killers were never found and punished.

The mystery around the murder of Williams and the fruitless search for his killers seemed a re-enactment of the events that played out after December 23, 2001 when then nation’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was gruesomely murdered in his Ibadan home.

While a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Iyiola Omisore, who was arrested and remanded for many months, has since been freed, 15 years after Ige was killed, the state is still searching for his killers.

Those who killed Dr. Marshall Harry, a chieftain of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, on March 5, 2003 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; and Alfred Rewane, an activist, on October 6, 1995, in Lagos, are also still at large.

The murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, remains unresolved 16 years after.

It was against the background of this litany of unresolved murders and like crimes that the announcement by the Lagos State government that it would, in the first quarter of 2017, inaugurate the first DNA and Forensic Centre in the country, drew cheers.

Announcing the plan by the state on November 29, the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, espoused in glowing words all the possibilities that the centre would bring.

Adeniji, who spoke at the first Lagos forensic symposium held at De Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, declared that the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre would bring to an end the era of unresolved criminal cases, not only in Lagos but also throughout the country.

Adeniji said with the centre, cases of wrongful conviction of innocent persons, as was seen in the Williams’ case, and erroneous acquittal of criminals by the courts would be a thing of the past.

He explained that the centre, being sited on Lagos Island, was set up in demonstration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s vision to rid Lagos State of criminalities.

Giving an opening remark titled, ‘Imagine the possibilities,’ the attorney general expressed confidence that the centre would raise the standard of the criminal justice system in Lagos.

He said, “It’s going to be world-class and the first by any state government in Nigeria. And what will it do? It’s going to help in investigation, it’s going to help in prosecution, it’s going to help in adjudication.

“What it means is that our crimes will be resolved faster; it will be more potent and it will lead to more precise investigation by the police.

“Situations where wrongly accused people are convicted will be eliminated; situations where right people who have committed crimes are set free would be no more. So, it is good for Nigeria, it is good for Lagos, it shows that Lagos is a leader and Lagos will continue to be a leader in innovation and technology.”

With the coming of the centre, Kazeem said the nemesis of criminals, including kidnappers and rapists, had come.

“For the sexual offenders, the clear message is leave Lagos; it’s not going to be business as usual anymore. We are going to be able to narrow down to you so easily.

“If you are rapist and you go and rape someone and you leave semen at the site of the rape, we will get your DNA from the semen; if you are a suspect and we pick you up, we’ll take a swab of you and get your DNA, by the time we compare the DNA that we took from you, either from your blood or from your tongue, and compare it with the semen that was found from the scene of the crime, if there is a match, then it’s over for you,” Kazeem exulted.

Apart from its significance to the criminal justice system, Kazeem said the centre was also strategic to the nation’s economy.

He explained that the inauguration of the DNA forensic centre, first of its kind in Nigeria, would mark the end of the era when samples for criminal investigations were sent abroad for forensic testing and analysis.

Kazeem said, “It will be open to the public; the centre is going to be useful for different things. Relatives of people that have died in the theatre of battle whose identities need to be confirmed so that their families can know them, will use it. Even security agencies here will utilise it; people from other states will utilise it, people from West Africa will utilise it. So, it’s going to be international.

“Presently, what we do here is that some of these samples for testing are flown abroad to South Africa, to the United States of America, the UK; so, we are going to have our own here.”

He said it was the culmination of several efforts to strengthen the justice system in the state adding that it was a reflection of Governor Ambode’s dream of a Lagos free of crimes.

He said, “I know that there have been past attempts but immediately this present governor, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, was sworn in, law and order, security have been part of his major or focal points of his administration.

“Early in his administration, he equipped the police and other security agencies and in that same vein in order to ensure that there is proper investigation and prosecution of crimes, he approved that this DNA forensic centre be established.”

He said the state was ready to do everything to ensure the credibility of the results to be generated from the centre.

He added, “Along the line, there will be legislation to back up some of the things that will be done in the lab.

“In order for you to collect a sample from a person, sometimes, in certain jurisdictions, you need a law to ensure that when the person is arrested, he must give up a sample that goes into a data base.

“Again, the centre is being set up by world-class scientists, the chances of it being subject to attack for being subjective is going to be very minimal. It is going to be ISO-certified, which means it’s going to be world-class; it’s going to be used by not only Lagosians or Nigerians, I’m sure that international institutions, organisations and embassies that are going to be here will utilise it here.

“So, we are not going to cut any corners at all. It’s going to be world-class. And as you can see, the people that set it up are going to be around for two years to run it and make sure that all the people that will running it from Nigeria are properly trained.”

He also explained that lawyers were being carried along to ensure the success of the centre.

He added, “This programme is good for lawyers because it also exonerates people that are not guilty and if it turns out that your client is guilty, it will be clear; it will be transparent, you will see it and so, you will not be able to argue too much. And that’s why we believe it’s very good for the criminal justice system.”

The centre is being set up by the United State of America-based ITSI – Bioscience, LLC, whose officials would manage it in the first two years of its operations while training Nigerians who would eventually take over.

The President & Chief Scientific Officer, ITSI-Bioscience, LLC, Dr. Richard Somiari, explained that the centre would provide “high-level DNA analyses currently possible in the world.”

He said the centre would aid investigation of rape cases, adding that victims should be encouraged to seek help.

Somiari said, “With the DNA lab in place, it will be easier to solve rape cases. The thing about rape is that a lot of marks are left. If a person is raped, you can collect DNA evidence; even if you wash your clothes, your panties, it is still possible to pick up some DNA. So, the most important thing about rape is that you have to understand that there is help out there. You have to come out and say, ‘Yes, I’ve been raped,’ and let the experts collect the sample. And once the sample is collected, eventually if someone is apprehended, then you have the basis to link the DNA collected from the victim to the DNA from the perpetrator. The Lagos State lab is going to help solve all these problems.”

Expressing belief in the initiative, the Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the NBA, Mr. Dele Oloke, said it was in line with the disposition of the NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), who, he said, had the vision of creating a brave new Bar.

He said the centre would strengthen the symbiosis between the NBA and the Ministry of Justice.

Oloke said, “This is a very good idea and I am not surprised that Lagos State is the pioneer because in Lagos we have vibrant people in government and this is one of the ways to showcase that vibrancy in them. And I believe that it will help a lot in criminal investigation.

“When you get the exhibits from the scene of crime and you have a good data base, it will be easier to identify who has committed a crime and by identifying who has committed a crime, innocent persons will not be unduly punished and the question of awaiting trial for nine, 12 years for an offence whose commission has not been resolved will be, if not totally eliminated, grossly reduced. It is a very good idea.

“I think the idea is symbiotic. The Ministry of Justice in Lagos State is thinking the way the national Nigerian Bar Association is thinking. The NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), is thinking about a brave, new Bar; the Lagos State Ministry of Justice is thinking about a forensic laboratory that will help a lot in identifying criminals in Nigeria without punishing unduly those who are not involved. I think it is a very good innovation.

“Hard as a lawyer will try to defend a criminal, his arguments cannot supersede genuine evidence against a suspect before a court of law. One of the things lawyers play on, in criminal trial and defence, is what this centre wants to reduce if not totally eliminate.

“When you have a policeman who has not been trained in conducting scene-of-crime investigation, data base investigation, data analysis investigation, data profile investigation, it will very easy for lawyer to say my client must be released or left off the hook at all costs even if he has committed a very heinous crime. But with this development, whether you are Chief Williams or the late Chief G.O.K. Ajayi, who were some of our best when they were alive, the facts will be very crystal clear and even a very junior police officer who is prosecuting can succeed in a criminal trial against the suspect.

“When you talk about lawyers trying to free their clients at all costs, it’s our trade, but I have never seen a lawyer who succeeded in truncating a case where the evidence before the court is overwhelming against a criminal. So, all those lapses in the case of the prosecution are what this scientific laboratory tries to avoid. So, it will go a long way in both criminal investigation and prosecution.”

Oloke, however, called for more work to be done in the area of date base creation in the country, without which, he observed, the success of the centre.

He also advised that the Federal Government should buy into the initiative, seeing its benefits might be limited.

He added, “Since we have the APC in Lagos and we have the APC in Abuja, Prof. (Yemi) Osinbajo should collaborate with Mr. Adeniji Kazeem and quickly start the same thing in Abuja. If we have foreign funds towards this, we should use half of it in Lagos and half of it in Abuja. Then we can have a holistic data crime bank.”

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