The Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) centre expected as first of the kind in South West Nigeria will become operational in Lagos by May this year, Adeniji Kazeem, Lagos State commissioner for justice and attorney general, said on Tuesday.
Kazeem also said that the state government was reviewing cases of condemned convicts on death row, including that of Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly known as ‘Reverend King,’ with a view to making pronouncements on them soon.
DNA is the hereditary material in humans and other organisms and, among other things, could help in determining the paternity of a child when subjected to laboratory analysis. One of the reasons the DNA centre is being established in Lagos is to resolve crimes that may required the laboratory analysis of the DNA of an accused or victim of crimes, such as rape and defilement of a minor.
Nigeria currently spends millions of dollar outside the country to resolve criminal and related cases requiring DNA tests.
Kazeem, speaking with journalists at a news conference alongside Steve Ayorinde, commissioner for information and strategy, to mark second year in office of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, said the DNA centre was now being equipped ahead official opening as part of the activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Lagos next month.
According to Kazeem, “the centre will be world-class and the first by any government in Nigeria. It will be geared towards enabling proper investigation, prosecution of crimes, adjudication and the administration of justice in the state.”
On the recently promulgated anti-land grabbing law, the commissioner said the government was resolute in its resolve to use legal means to curb the nefarious activities of land grabbers who, with their collaborators continue to enforce a reign of terror on the people of the state.
He said since the inauguration of the anti-land grabbing task force in September last year, “a total of 1,237 petitions had been received with about 250 resolved through various means, including physical enforcement, mediation and conciliation.”
