Nigerian Lawyers Applaud DNA Barcoding.

Lawyers that participated in the one-day, legal Standards Workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria ,Wednesday, unanimously affirmed that the DNA Barcode technology of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life(CBOL), initiative of the Smithsonian Institute of the USA, is tenable evidence in court for the trial of wildlife crimes.  

At the workshop organized by the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in collaboration with CBOL, the Legal Adviser of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Barr. Alabo Wokoma, stated that, though there had been several arrests and prosecutions of Wildlife offenders in Nigeria, no case of presentation of DNA Barcode evidence for court judgments had occurred yet. He however noted that the growing trend in the crime rate and sophistication of perpetrators, the DNA Barcode evidence would certainly be a veritable tool in determining court decisions and judgments in the coming years.

Futhermore, Dr. Christine Oby Onyia,Director of Environmental Biotechnology Department of NABDA and National Coordinator of the Barcode of Wildlife Project (BoWP)in Nigeria, noted that reports  gathered from NESREA and other government agencies responsible for the control and execution of wildlife offenders  show that only a scientific and fact based evidence such as the DNA barcoding results would  solve problems of contentions that may  likely arise in complicated case in future.

She noted that there had been cases where elephant tusks and ivories had been ground into powder or put in tablet form and brought into Nigeria from other countries of the world. However, none of these incidents had resulted in court cases requiring forensic evidence to determine court judgments due to the fact that offenders always pleaded guilty.

Nevertheless, Mr Thomas Lantum of the Nigerian Custom Service reiterated that the scientific intervention proffered by the DNA Barcode technique would be a very useful tool in the hands of law enforcement agents in tracking down criminals.