Fingerprints were studied off and on since the year 1200 when they appeared in a Chinese novel. In 1788, JC Mayer confirmed that fingerprints were unique to individuals and between 1880-1886, Henry Faulds suggested to the UK Metropolitan Police its use in crime detection. An Argentine police officer, Jaun Vucetich classified fingerprints and successfully, for first time used them in crime detection in 1892 by convicting a woman, Fransisca Rojas of murdering her two sons.
Francis Galton published an 1892 book titled Finger Prints. In India 1858 Sir William J. Herschel used fingerprints on documents to prevent fraud and in 1897 India opened a Fingerprint Bureau for Criminal Identification. Since 1902, Great Britain and other countries and now INTERPOL have placed great reliance on NATIONAL CRIMINAL FINGERPRINT /MUGSHOT/DNA DATABASE BANKS. Disgracefully in 2025, Nigeria does not have a criminal fingerprint or photo (mugshot) database- jobs for thousands of technologists. No Nigerian police station offers this routinely.
Why this introduction? Because FINGERPRINTING/FACE PHOTOGRAPHS/DNA ARE NOT NUCLEAR PHYSICS EXCEPT IN AFRICA apparently. Every present activity has an origin in someone’s work in the historic past. Nigeria seems to resist being brought into even ‘Ancient and Modern’ crime detection methodologies, though they are educated daily by TV crime programmes. The very first law of crime is to cordon off the crime scene, wear gloves and collect items and examine or ‘dust’ the area for fingerprints
No doubt there are modern security professionals in the Nigerian Police. Some police, criminals themselves, fear that fingerprinting will catch them. What powerful force prevents the Nigerian Police entering the 21st Century? Although there are budget allocations for Police Crime Laboratories, fund diversion and underfunding cripple crime detection.
I remember when my first cousin, my father’s full sister’s son, Funsho Williams, a Gregorian of athletic and academic distinction and Lagos State governorship candidate was brutally executed, murdered, assassinated (you choose) on 27-7-2006 in Dolphin Estate Lagos, in a still unsolved politically-motivated crime. I was shocked at the number, in their hundreds, of people, police (high and low officer, men and women), politicians and their aides and hangers on – all eager to be press recorded, neighbours, gawkers and murderers (most likely) who were seen trooping in and out, marching all over the blood-stained upstairs landing, ruining the crime scene. The access from the adjourning part of the duplex would have had uncontaminated DNA evidence – but no fingerprinting and no DNA till today 19 years later. Worldwide, ‘COLD CASES’ evidence awaits future investigative techniques. Here, we have no storage mentality, zero storage space and throw critical evidence away. TAPING THE CRIME SCENE IN POLICE INVESTIGATION 1-0-1. BUT DO WE EVEN HAVE LABELLED ‘POLICE: KEEP OFF’ TAPE?
We have learnt no lessons because recently there was a kidnap homeowner victim who was held in a house for eight days. Another victim, a doctor, was murdered at home. Both these locations would have had fingerprint and DNA evidence. Nationwide, violence, kidnapping, sexual abuse, traffickers, body part dealers as well as blatant terrorism thrive.
Our gallant security services must be supported by 2025 investigation methods including gloves, boots, masks, hamzat suits, ‘A CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION BOX’ and BACKUP FORENSIC LABORATORIES capable of taking photographs of victims and surroundings, labelling and taking samples for later analysing for fingerprints, drugs (medical and stimulants), alcohol, chemical poisons, blood group, infections, etc.
The best Nigerian based laboratories now are NAFDAC Laboratories, Police Lab in Oshodi both sometimes attacked, in universities, teaching hospitals especially the DNA Lab in Redeemer’s University, in the private sector especially the food and beverages and petroleum industry. THE POLICE CAN GO INTO IMMEDIATE PARTNERSHIP with these until Police Labs are upgraded.
The National Assembly recently called for a 2025 review of the ‘Security Architecture’ in the face of rising terrorism. Nigeria’s terrorists repeat the cycle of capture, re-education, release, re-terrorising, recapture etc. Database identification of everyone in Nigeria is key to security. The National Assembly must include greater police crime detection capacity & capabilities as part of the strategic 2025 security architecture upgrade.
Historically, Nigeria escaped the shame of its 50-year chronic administrative lapse, neglecting to provide landlines for the masses as it rode the crest of the cell phone wave. This move, by 2025, has empowered almost every adult Nigerian, from pauper to with communication capacity.
Today, Nigeria missed the crest of the computer wave to educate its youth but can and must now ride the new crest of the ARTIFICAL INTELLEGENCE, AI, wave available to our government, police force and security forces to hugely accelerate the capture and quickly expose violent and impersonation 419 criminals by comparing their data to a harnessed and ALREADY AVAILABLE BIODATA BASES across several areas. These include FINGERPRINTS, DIGITAL FACIAL INFORMATION FROM very expensive previous registration exercises, costing probably trillions of naira to date, for DRIVING LICENCE, SIM CARD, PASSPORT, VOTER CARD, EXAMINATION REGISTRATION, TAX NUMBER, BANK, NATIONAL IDENTITY NUMBER CARD, SCHOOL AND WORKPLACE identity.
Of course, Nigeria faces similar hacking threats and ‘computer crash’ risks as other countries. But with 330 proudly Nigerian languages at our disposal, it should be possible to make our passwords and codes so unique and quickly changeable that we could be adequately firewalled and protected. ONE WAY IS TO KEEP THE ENTIRE DATABASE fully backed up, separated into multiple independent segments; 26 segments by alphabet for example and by having several regularly updated copies completely off the INTERNET AND ONLY ALLOW OFF GRID ACCESS.
