BREAKING: Lagos Assembly Passes Bill Approving DNA Centre for Criminal Investigations
- The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a new bill that will make the use of DNA testing for criminal investigations easier
- The bill established the Lagos State Deoxyribo-Nucleic Acid (DNA) and Forensic centre which will facilitate criminal investigations
- A statement by the state legislature indicates that the important bill was passed by the House after it scaled the third reading at plenary on on Monday, September 5
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Lagos, Nigeria - The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed the bill for a law establishing the Lagos State Deoxyribo-Nucleic Acid (DNA) and Forensic centre to support criminal investigations, law enforcement, preservation of evidence for the judicial system and for other related purposes.
A statement sent to Legit.ng by Eromosele Ebhomele, Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, indicates that the bill was passed by the House after it scaled the third reading at plenary on on Monday, September 5, with all lawmakers in attendance giving their approvals.
Source: Twitter
The report on the bill had been adopted at an earlier sitting presided over by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa.
What the DNA and forensic centre seeks to achieve
A part of the objectives of the centre includes providing for the use and regulation of DNA based technology in the Lagos state in order to carry out profiling or analysis.
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The centre is to also:
"Carry out other forensic disciplines including, toxicology, drug chemistry, finger print examination, firearms examination, tool mark examination, ballistics, trace evidence analysis, questioned document examination and digital forensics to obtain evidence relevant to the investigation of criminal offences.
"Provide for the use of DNA profiles in the investigation of crime and the use of such profiles in proving the innocence or guilt of persons.
"Provide for the conditions under which the samples for DNA profiles may be retained or destroyed.
"Establish a DNA database and a DNA Index System in the State as well as establish a DNA bank for storage of reference DNA samples."
The bill gives powers to the centre to take specified bodily samples from certain categories of persons for the purposes of DNA analysis; collect, examine, document and preserve evidence which can later be used in the identification of offenders amongst others.
The bill also allows the centre decode family ties and relationships of individuals in order to establish identity as well as the identification of abandoned or disputed children and other related issues.
The centre is expected to recommend methods for optimum use of DNA techniques and technologies for administration of justice.
Insecurity: Lagos speaker advocates true federalism, implementation of panel reports
In another report, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Obasa, recently described Nigeria as a country that desires true federalism as part of the solutions to the nation's security crisis.
He stated this at the 2022 National Congress and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Psychological Association held at the Lagos State University.
The Speaker lamented that insecurity had continued despite the federal government's deployment of financial and other resources to its fight.
Source: Legit.ng
