....OF CRIMES AND TRIBAL FORENSIC EVIDENCE (The Nigerian experience)




By Abubakar Widi-Jalo

In serious countries,when a crime is committed,the first set of people allowed access to the crime scene are forensic experts,they will comb the entire crime scene,take DNA samples,physical evidence and the murder weapons for lab examination.
In less than 24hours,names and pictures of suspects will be all over TV stations.

But here,the main suspect is usually a whole tribe,the first things we do is to carry a very big 'proverbial brush' and paint a whole tribe,blame a whole tribe,demonize and criminalise a whole tribe.
"It is fulani heardsmen" the usual suspects.

24hours,1 year and 10 years after the said crime,we will continue with the blame game and running in circles,while the criminals grow wings and strike again and again.

The function of a university is not only to award certificates to students,the university is meant to be a place for scientific research,not just assumptions.
That's why we still blame everything on our enemies here and quick to label sick people witches and wizards.
When someone has high fever,theirs a tendency for the person to go into a trance and sometimes talks off point.
If you try that here,they will label you a witch or a wizard and lynch you with the speed of light.

When we are yet to discover an antidote for malaria parasite,what else can we invent in our universities?

unfortunately,people just pass through universities,certificated,labeled 'Degree holders and then "released" to the society to unleash the  ignorance they learnt or un-learnt  in the classrooms.

The difference between advanced countries and third world countries is technology and scientific advancement.
Science and technology has made life easy for those who worked hard in the lab to develop simple ways of detecting crimes.

We all saw how the attackers of Paris and Belgium were identified,traced,tracked and arrested within hours and day of the  attacks.

DNA samples and tracking equipments made this possible not by blaming a whole tribe.

Months after the Agatu attacks in Makurdi,all we've achieved is to label the attackers
 "Fulani Heardsmen"
So,if you ask any police man investigating the crimes of Agatu,he will also tell you "We are on top of the situation,we are on the trail of the Fulani heardsmen"
The thousands and millions of Fulani heardsmen,all of them are suspects so don't worry,we will soon get them.

After the Enugu attacks,we are hearing the same tales of "Fulani heardsmen" even after the commissioner of police in Enugu said the attackers are not fulani heardsmen but ' hoodlums'(another vague generalization)

In a serious country,forensic experts would have been combing the town in Enugu,picking and weaving pieces of evidence together.

 If only we can channel our energy more on using our brains rather than emotions in issues of crime detection.
If only we can invest more in science and technology.

Forensic science has made it easy to detect crime and criminals,unfortunately we are still playing the labeling game here,because we don't have a clue of who the criminals are,we just choose the easy way,
scream "Fulani heardsmen" ague on Facebook and Twitter,and then wait for the next attack.

The world has moved on and we just have to key in,university professors and students need to come up with more inventions and scientific research on how to tackle issues bothering us.
Issues of insecurity,alternative energy,medical research,disease control,etc etc

 Forensic science is simply the application of science to criminal and civil laws,We all watched the OJ Simpson trial which was more like a movie script because of all the professionals involved in the trial.

Forensic experts played a major role in the court room,
The case of Oscar Pistorius is another classical example.

Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyse scientific evidence during the course of an investigation and then use them as evidence in the court of law.

 In addition to their laboratory role, forensic scientists testify as expert witnesses in both criminal and civil cases and can work for either the prosecution or the defense.
While any field could technically be forensic,certain sections have developed over time to encompass the majority of forensically related cases.

This is the way to go and not screaming Fulani heardsmen after every attack and just sit and wait for the next attack.

The consequences of this generalization is the spread of the artrosity to many other places while we take our eyes off the ball.

This needs to be nicked in the bud before it's too late.

It is better to arrest one genuine criminal after an attack than continue labeling a whole tribe.

IT IS NOT FULANI HERDSMEN
It is a criminal with a body and soul,a name and an identity !

Receive sense pls.

Let's get serious !

This is a Copyright material




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