Forensic Science: An imperative tool for fight against corruption, insecurity, other woes

By Mubarak Shu’aibu

The insecurity challenge in Nigeria has assumed a formidable dimension that requires a stakeholder’s approach as it is being touted in various quarters and, in all honesty, necessitates a call for creativity and long-term work. The alarming rate of insecurity is no less disturbing despite the reform undertaken and a substantial share of the national budgets allocated to the security sector.

The sensation of insecurity citizens of our societies experience is one of the main threats against the quality of life in a democracy. Thus, this has caused public opinion to cry in favour of searching for solutions to the woes.  There is an acceptance that a lot needs to be done to turn the current malaise around, and espousing Forensic Science as a tool should be considered on the list of priorities as it would make a profound impact and or even lay a groundwork for the fight against insecurity. Proof for sexual offences, drugging, cold blood murder, bank robbery, identification of victims and other menaces could be decisively dealt with by forensic techniques.

Forensic Science refers to the application of scientific methods in the recovery, analysis and interpretation of relevant materials and data in criminal investigations. It is both an intelligence and evidential tool to assist in the crime management and delivery of justice.

Scientific advances already play an essential role in solving crimes. According to the American National Institute of Justice, since 2009, the institute has funded forensic science projects worth more than $127 million, including approximately $116 million for 269 research awards and nearly $11 million for projects by federal partners. This funding has resulted in more than 900 reports, publications in scholarly journals and presentations. Therefore, it is a wise bit of business in a country like Nigeria, where the criminal activities are devoid of sophistication like that of America, to expend more resources in forensics.

Just as medical, agricultural and economic research are crucial for the advancement of a country, a sustained progression in the research underlying forensic sciences also is critical for advancing safety and the administration of justice. Unfortunately, Nigeria is hooked on instant highs and short-term fixes, which has ultimately and gruesomely halted our general progress as a country.

In retrospect, lack of intrinsic abilities on forensic had many arguing in favour of the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje when his videos stacking dollars into his pocket were leaked. This event had the public stupefied, including President Muhammadu Buhari, who in the aftermath remarked that he didn’t know the extent of technology used to record the video, a matter that could quickly be settled within a fraction of seconds with good forensics in place.

In a similar terrain, a snake swallowed handsome money in the JAMB office, a fire outbreak in one of the finance offices in Abuja, the recent accident that occurred recording scores of deaths by one of the elite sons and many more stories whose verdicts to date remain surreptitious for Nigerians.

Bringing this to a close, I can say employing forensic science techniques in our fight against lingering insecurity and corruption should be considered inevitable and necessary. That will solve many other problematic issues such as sexual offences, drugging, cold murder, etcetera.

Mubarak Shu’aibu wrote from Bauchi State, Nigeria.