THE ROLE OF CRIMINAL PROFILLING AND IT’S RELEVANCE IN THE NIGERIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
ABSTRACT: The Nigerian criminal justice system is not entirely ignorant or unaware of the use and the merits of the application of criminal profiling as a tool in crime investigation. However, criminal profiling in Nigeria has not nearly reached the level of recognition, functionality or institutionalization that it has attained in other jurisdictions. This study aims to increase the awareness, explore the import, feasibility and the practicality of offender profiling in criminal acts especially those of violent and sexual nature with particular focus on the Nigerian criminal justice system. It will also give an expository critique of the loopholes and impediments in the system and ways criminal profiling can fill up these holes.
The research methods employed in this study includes a combination of both primary and secondary sources. These primary sources include various legislations relating to the criminal justice system in Nigeria and other jurisdictions and countries most especially the USA and the UK. Legislations such as the Criminal Code, The Police Act and the 1999 Constitution will be referred to. Secondary sources include references to textbooks, journals and articles written by leading authors and scholars in the area of criminal and offender profiling. Online articles, journals, abstracts and books will also serve as a secondary information source in this study.
The effectiveness of this field is greatly highlighted in this thesis with the view that criminal investigative analysis will be effectively immersed into the justice system and receive as much recognition as it has in other jurisdictions especially in the US and in major parts of Europe. The question whether or not criminal profiling can be absorbed and modified to suit Nigeria is one which this project attempts to resolve, and if not, why.