Scientific Approach To Crime Fighting: Nigerian Air Force Trains 15 Air Provost Personnel In Advanced Crime Scene Investigation

Scientific Approach To Crime Fighting: Nigerian Air Force Trains 15 Air Provost Personnel In Advanced Crime Scene Investigation

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on 23 October 2020, graduated 15 personnel, comprising 4 officers and 11 airmen/airwomen of the Air Provost (AP) Specialty, from the Advanced Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Course at the 057 Provost Investigation Group (057 PIG) Forensic Laboratory in Ikeja, Lagos. The 4-week intensive training was conducted to further develop the capacity of the AP personnel to effectively and efficiently employ scientific approach to crime fighting. The Course covered areas such as; forensic collation of crime scene data for continuous analysis, evidence recovery from scene, crime scene photography and fingerprinting. Other areas covered are; the evacuation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and firearms victims, DNA lifting as well as scientific methodology in presentation of evidence during legal proceedings.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, represented by Air Officer Commanding Logistics Command (AOC LC), Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Lawal Alao, stated that the training of the AP personnel was conducted in furtherance of efforts at repositioning the NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives. He said the training would fast-track forensic collation of data as well as enable the effective employment of scientific approach to crime fighting in all facets of NAF operations. He therefore charged the graduands to employ their newly acquired skills to effectively curb crime and sustain discipline across NAF units. The AOC also commended the resource persons from Sentinel Forensics Limited for sharing their knowledge and skills with the NAF AP Investigators.

The highlight of the ceremony was the practical demonstration of the new CSI skills by the graduands under the watchful eyes of the Commander 057 PIG, Group Captain Longonfa Nansoh, as well as the external resource persons and British-trained NAF Instructors.