Owo Massacre: Forensics, Investigation, Prosecution and Adjudication

This interesting and informative article by Learned Senior Advocate, Adeniji Kazeem, discusses the unfortunate attack on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which occurred on June 5, 2022, and how to go about conducting a modern-day forensic investigation in an incident such as this, in order to apprehend the perpetrators of this horrific crime in which many were killed and injured. He emphasises the importance of an up-to-date well-equipped Forensics/DNA Laboratory, like the Lagos State DNA Forensic Laboratory which was destroyed during the #EndSARS Protest by miscreants, in crime solving

Background

On 5th June, 2022, Nigerians shockingly learnt of a dastardly attack by yet to be identified gunmen on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, in Ondo State killing and wounding several people. The gunmen allegedly came with automatic rifles and explosives, with which they launched an unprovoked attack on worshippers. To date, the security agencies have made no arrests, but the Federal Government has blamed ISWAP a known terrorist organisation for the heinous attack.

One of the many pictures and videos from the sad incident, shows the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, security operatives and several people in the Church walking around the Church which had become a crime scene after the attack.

Investigation & Forensics 

In most developed jurisdictions, following such an attack, the first thing the security services are required to do is to secure the location of the attack, which would have been immediately designated a crime scene. The scene would usually be cordoned off with Police crime scene tape, and restricted to only authorised personnel.

The first and foremost reason to protect the crime scene, is to prevent the contamination of the scene and any evidence found there. The crime scene can be contaminated by people (including all those who “officially” attend the scene, as well as the curious public, press and media who have an interest in what’s going on inside the cordon). And, contamination can also occur because of changes to weather conditions, so it is important to protect the scene from weather conditions which might damage it after the crime has occurred.

The visit by the Governor of Ondo State and other persons to the Church should have been restricted, because the Church and its environs had become a crime scene following the attack. 

In addition, eyewitnesses and people within the vicinity would also be thoroughly interviewed. This may provide valuable information about things like the number of attackers, their physical descriptions, the vehicles they may have come to the crime scene with (having the vehicle registration details may help trace the attackers) or their means of transportation. Sketches of suspects would also be drawn by Police sketch artists based on eyewitness descriptions, and they would be publicised for members of the public to be on the lookout. 

The first and foremost reason to protect the crime scene, is to prevent contamination of the scene and any evidence on the scene. The scene can be contaminated by people (including all those who “officially” attend the scene, as well as the curious public, press and media who have an interest in what’s going on inside the cordon). And contamination can also occur because of changes to weather conditions, so it is important too to protect the scene from weather conditions which might damage the scene after the crime has occurred.

The visit by the Governor of Ondo State and other persons to the Church should have been restricted, because the Church and its environs had become a crime scene following the attack.

It would also have been expected that the Nigeria Police or the relevant security agencies would have protected the crime scene, and deployed crime scene investigators (CSI) to the location to gather evidence which would have been likely left behind by the attackers.

In forensic science, Edmond Locard who was a famous French criminologist laid down the principle which holds that the perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it, and that both can be used as forensic evidence for investigation prosecution and adjudication. It is for this reason, that protection and analysis of gathered evidence from a crime scene is so important.

The CSI will almost certainly need to wear personal protective clothing (PPE) such as a scene suit, over shoes, and gloves, both to reduce the possibility that they might themselves contaminate the scene (by shedding hairs on to the scene for example) and to protect themselves from potentially hazardous substances (such as the powders or chemicals they use at the scene of crime). I did not see any evidence from the pictures or video, that such PPE equipment were deployed by the Police or other persons visiting the crime scene.

 If properly investigated the Owo attack crime scene could reveal the following important non-exhaustive list of forensic evidence:

a. there would likely have been shell casings from the weapons used by the attackers, which could have fingerprints that can be traced.

b. the bullets can be matched by ballisticians to weapons used by the attackers.

c. there could be shoe prints that could determine footwear worn by the attackers.

d. there could have been fingerprints left that can be matched to fingerprints in a data base (America has AFIS which is the Automated Fingerprint identification system).

e. there could have been blood, hair or any other biological substance from which DNA can be extracted and matched to samples in a DNA data base (America has CODIS which is the Combined DNA Index System).

f. if explosives were used, there would be explosive residue from which forensic evidence can be extracted and analysed for signature.

Prosecution & Adjudication

If the above forensic evidence is properly collected and analysed by the security services, it could lead to the swift apprehension of the perpetrators of this crime. Unfortunately, I am not certain that Nigeria has a fully functional updated fingerprint data base. There is no DNA data base, because the Lagos State DNA Forensic Laboratory that was on the verge of creating and populating the data base was destroyed by misguided miscreants during the #EndSARS riot. In the same vein, the crime scene investigation collaboration between the DNA laboratory and the Police was also truncated by the riot.

If the attackers are apprehended, then Prosecutors will need to a make a case from the forensic evidence gathered. The forensic evidence will need to be tied to the attackers to place them at the crime scene, in addition to any statements or confessions that they may make. The evidence gathered and analysed by the forensic investigators will need to be meticulously charted and documented in the Prosecutors’ proof of evidence, to build an unassailable case against the suspects. The beauty of forensic evidence is that if properly used by the Prosecutor, it will build a watertight case and make adjudication and conviction by the Court easier.

Conclusion

The criminal justice administration system in Nigeria needs urgent overhaul, and very serious investment in manpower, training, technology, science, and equipment. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient commitment and continuity to these issues in most of the State Governments and the Federal Government. Any decent Forensic laboratory will cost billions of Naira to set up and function and must be run as public service to fight crime, and not necessarily as a profit centre. 

It is only when key decision makers begin to re-order our priorities and spend the required funds on criminal justice administration, that the next “Owo” can be possibly prevented.

Adeniji Kazeem, SAN, former Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State