The Lagos State Government has completed the
construction of the first ever high-powered DNA Forensic Laboratory in Nigeria,
the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem
has disclosed.
The State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi
Ambode had last year approved the construction of the DNA forensic lab as part
of the criminal justice sector reforms designed to solve crime through
technology and fulfil an unmet need for DNA profiling which is a unique
forensic technique that is now being used all over the world.
Speaking at a press briefing held
at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja to announce activities
lined up by the State Government to commemorate the 2017 United Nations
International Day of Peace, Kazeem said skeletal work had already commenced in
the lab known as the Lagos State DNA Forensics Centre (LSDFC), and that it
would be formerly commissioned in coming weeks.
Kazeem, who was represented at
the briefing by the State’s Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry
of Justice, Mrs Funlola Odunlami said the lab, among other initiatives of the
State Government, was part of efforts geared toward enhancing peace in the
State.
“The DNA forensic centre just
opened this month. We are yet to commission it but it has been opened and it is
a DNA crime forensic lab and at the same time, it is going to deal with other
DNA matters like paternity issue. What we are doing now is skeletal work which
we started this month,” Kazeem said.
He recalled that since 2007, the
State Government through the Citizens’ Mediation Centre (CMC), an agency under
the Ministry of Justice, commenced collaborations with the United Nations
Information Office to mark the International Day of Peace as an annual event to
propagate the ethos of peaceful co-existence among residents in the State,
thereby educating and sensitizing the public on the need for peaceful
co-existence and respect for human dignity to engender socio-economic growth.
“The Lagos State Government
recognizes the fact that the State is the commercial nerve centre of the
sub-Saharan Africa where all races converge for various purposes such as
business, hospitality, tourism among others, and has put in place mechanisms
that will foster development and promote economic activities in the State by
instituting agencies that will attend to matters relating to Land Grabbers,
Special Task Force, donation of police vehicles for security, introduction of
DNA Forensic laboratory to archive blood samples of criminals, among others.
“All these actions are geared
toward enhancing peace in Lagos State,” Kazeem said.
Speaking on activities to mark
the 2017 edition of the day tagged “Together For Peace: Respect, Safety and
Dignity For All,” Kazeem said on September 18, there would be a Walk for
Peace/Legal Clinic on Ikorodu Road precisely from Funsho Williams Avenue
through Ojuelegba to Yaba, while on September 19, a second Walk for Peace/Legal
Clinic will hold at Jubilee Under-bridge in Ajah through Ibeju Lekki Expressway
and back to the bridge.
On the same day, Kazeem said the
CMC will hold a Legal Clinic at both venues where free legal services and
mediation services will be rendered to residents of the State, while on
September 21, the 18th Stakeholders’ Conference and Book Launch will hold at the
Adeyemi Bero Auditorium in Alausa to mark the day.
Every year, September 21 is
observed as the International Day of Peace as declared by the General Assembly
of United Nations as a day devoted to strengthening ideals of peace, both
within and among all nations and peoples.
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Great stuff Lagos. Wish other states will learn.
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