ABUJA – The European Union (EU) funded ‘Support to Anti-corruption in Nigeria’ project is supporting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) forensic experts to train all the beneficiary agencies on basic forensic use.
The activity is to consolidate gains of the previous support given to the EFCC forensic unit through training and the purchase of equipment for its forensic laboratory through the previous EU funded project NGAS08 on Support to the EFCC.
Specifically, the ongoing trainings are on digital forensics, crime scene photography, fingerprints identification and documents analysis. The basic knowledge of these various types of forensics will help to bring the participating agencies up to speed on the usefulness of forensics to tackle corruption in Nigeria, in line with the acceptable global standards.
One of the benefits of the training is to empower fully trained staff of relevant Anti-corruption Agencies (ACAs) in forensic science, particularly in forensic fingerprints identification, computer forensics, and documents analysis.
The ACAs signed a memorandum of understanding to enable trained their staff have access to the EFCC Forensic Laboratory.
The two-day “Training to Foster Effective Coordination and Partnership among ACAs in Forensic Use” will further enhance coordination and cooperation among the participating Anti-corruption Agencies in a renew effort to fight corruption in Nigeria.
One of the critical gaps and peculiarity in the national anti-corruption agenda is the limited interface between the multiple and operationally diverse institutions which, despite the overlapping mandates have very limited interface and cooperation.
As a result, there is very limited synergy and coordination of the overall anti-corruption effort and an ineffective use of resources.
Knowledge in Forensic Science is a critical need for the beneficiary agencies of this project on Support to anti-corruption in Nigeria.
However, it is worthy of note that the previous EU Funded Project NGA S08 (on the Support to the EFCC and the Nigeria Judiciary), which was also implemented by the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC), had provided a Forensic Laboratory, a first of its kind in Nigeria to the EFCC, with the aim of upgrading the operational capacity of the commission.
The NGA S08 project assisted the EFCC to engage international experts who mentored in forensic fingerprints identification, computer forensics, and documents analysis.
The mentors also provided hands-on training to the young scientists in the EFCC Forensic Laboratory, and developed the Standards Operating Procedures, and workflows consistent with the international standards and best practices for forensic laboratory.
In an attempt to build on the efforts of the previous project, and to enhance the capacity of a wider group of ACAs, this planned activity will create an avenue for Forensic Experts at the EFCC to share their knowledge and experience through training with other relevant ACAs, specifically those with relevant mandates.
Furthermore, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between the ACAs and the EFCC to ensure access of partnering ACAs and their usage of the Forensic Laboratory at the EFCC.
Beneficiary agencies of the ongoing EU funded Project on Support to Anti-corruption had, at different times, expressed the need for access to a functional Forensic Unit, and the knowledge of forensic science in multiple areas.
Since there is already a forensic laboratory at the EFCC, a coordinated approach will be used to assist ACAs to gain requisite knowledge in forensic fingerprints identification, computer forensics, and documents analysis, to achieve the common goal to fight corruption, according to a document from the office of UNODC.