The government of Lagos state in Nigeria is set to establish a forensic lab and has acquired five hectares of land at a beach in Badagry for the project, which is designed to assist Nigerian police with criminal investigations.
Announcing the project yesterday in Lagos, Adebiyi Mabadeje, Lagos state’s commissioner for science and technology, said once opened the facility will serve the entire continent.
He said an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is currently in progress at the site and the project will be driven by public-private partnership.
“Considering the priority placed on the security of lives and properties of Lagosians, the state government is working on the establishment of a forensic science laboratory with a view to complement law enforcement, criminal investigation and judicial system of Lagos, Nigeria in general and West Africa as a whole,” Mabadeje said.
“The objective of the laboratory is to assist in the prosecution of criminal cases by authenticating evidence of prosecutors in other to get conviction. It will also bring about reduction in the cases of unresolved crimes.”
He said the state government is to deploy 1,000 Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to complement the already installed 1,000 CCTVs across the state to enhance security in the state – especially in intelligence gathering and surveillance.
He said the state is forging several collaborations in the area of ICT with the involvement of the private sector. These he said include a statewide broadband service, an innovation agency for incubation, adoption of a US$80 million worked-radio/surveillance camera network and e-learning systems infrastructure to support computer-based examinations.
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