Evaluating the Effectiveness of Digital Forensics in Crime Investigation in Nigeria-An experimental Design Approach

ABSTRACT:

Digital forensic (DF) has the potential to reduce the crime rate but this benefit may not be realized in Nigeria where the adoption of digital forensics in crime investigation is low and it is based on an organization’s standard operating procedure (SOP). The study aimed at evaluating the effect of SOP used by different security agencies using digital forensic on crime investigation to determine whether or not there will be need for a standardized digital forensic model in Nigeria. Various researches have shown that digital forensic based on standardized model have effectively reduced the crime rate. We evaluated the effectiveness of DF and the association between DF and SOP in crime investigation in Nigeria. This paper presents the results of the second stage of our research in which we conducted a survey using semi-structured questionnaires on a stratified sampling of 97 security and law enforcement agents in Nigeria. The number of convictions, number of cases discharged and acquitted, time spent on investigation, and ease of investigation were parameters measured to determine the effectiveness of digital forensics concerning SOP. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The result suggests that there is a significant difference in the time spent on the investigation ( F(2,94 = 2.539, p < .005); the number of cases discharged as a result of error in the investigation (F(2,94 = 3.78, p < .005); the number of convictions (F(2,94 = 91.725, p < .005); ) among security agencies who used different SOP in their forensic investigation; however the result did not suggest any significant difference among security agencies who used different SOPs regarding ease of investigation (F (2.94) = 1.847, p > .005 ) . We conclude that harmonizing and standardizing the digital forensics practice through a digital forensic model may reduce crime in Nigeria to a great extent, and should be considered by policy makers.

Keywords: Digital Crime, Digital Devices, Digital Evidence, Digital Forensics, Digital Forensic Model, Electronic Evidence