On 22nd August 2024, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with funding from the United States Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), successfully handed over a state-of-the-art evidence storage facility to the Nigeria Police Force in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
The handover was marked by an official unveiling ceremony attended by the State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Labaran, Commissioner of Police, Umar Shehu Nadada, and Commissioner for Special Duties on Security and Public Matters, Ambassador Timothy Kasuwa.
The new evidence storage facility is supporting a fundamental shift in the conduct of criminal investigations in Nigeria, which has traditionally been based on oral and confession-based evidence towards modern techniques based on forensic science. The facility will enable the Nigeria Police Force to protect the integrity of forensic evidence for use in court proceedings, helping to bring perpetrators to justice and ensure accountability for serious crimes.
In constructing the new facility, UNODC implemented a number of physical upgrades to create a structured and secure environment for evidence storage, including installing customized shelving to improve the process for locating and retrieving evidence, and enhancing security measures to mitigate against potential evidence tampering. UNODC has also procured forensic packaging materials to be utilized by the Nigeria Police Force, which will protect evidence from contamination and preserve the chain-of-custody throughout the judicial process, further strengthening the admissibility of forensic evidence in court.
In addition, to ensure the new facility operates in line with international best practices in evidence management, UNODC has provided capacity-building to strengthen the expertise of evidence custodians in Lafia. The practical-based training has focused on the development of rigorous protocols for evidence submission and recording, and the use of specialist techniques to preserve forensic evidence through effective packaging.
The construction of the new evidence storage facility in Lafia was implemented under the project ‘Strengthening the Capacity of Nigeria to Collect Evidence and More Effectively Prosecute Terrorism, Kidnapping, and Other Serious Crimes in Nigeria’s Middle Belt”, funded by INL. It is one of six upgrades to evidence storage facilities throughout the Middle Belt, North-East and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
UNODC has already completed the renovation of another two evidence storage facilities in Borno and Gombe states, with further refurbishments underway in Plateau and Benue, as well as the main evidence storage facility in FCT – all of which will be finalized in the coming months.
UNODC’s work to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to successfully prosecute terrorism and serious crime through improved evidence collection and exploitation of evidential material supports the UNODC Strategic Vision for Nigeria 2030.
UNODC would like to thank the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs for their generous financial support which made this project possible.
