Roles, Benefits and Challenges of Forensic Facial Image Comparison and the Nigerian Criminal Justice System

Globalization has not only ushered in tremendous changes in the global economic and political arena, it has turned the world into a global village. This is to the extent that event in one part of the world replicates itself in other parts. Of note is the introduction and use of forensics in criminal justice system which has taken roots in some nations of the world while its advantages are yet to be fully utilized in some developing nations of Africa, particularly in Nigeria. This study therefore argued that forensic science, particularly forensic facial image comparison or identification, is now a common method of technology adopted in the administration of criminal justice as well as in the detection of crimes that would have been ordinarily difficult to unravel. The study, thus, situated the challenges or failures of unravelling some of the crimes, murders and assassinations committed in Nigeria in recent years to underutilization of forensics by the law enforcement agency, i.e., the police, in its investigations. The study sees this as one of the factors that rendered the country’s criminal justice system ineffective in prosecuting an alleged offender and exonerating the innocent. This study adopted the historical and explorative research designs in its methodological component. This means that the study relied on secondary sources of data via textbooks, journal articles, official documents and internet sources for relevant literatures. The study proffered some strategies that would improve forensic techniques, particularly forensic facial image comparison identification, which can be used to boost the criminal justice system in Nigeria. Oluka, Nduka Lucas | Igwe, Elijah Onyedikachi | Ativie, C. Ailende "Roles, Benefits and Challenges of Forensic Facial Image Comparison and the Nigerian Criminal Justice System" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-3 , April 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd30523.pdf