Ehimen Esene V. The State (2017)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

CLARA BATA OGUNBIYI, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal Benin Division, in criminal appeal CA/B/374C/2010 delivered on the 28th day of May, 2013 by which said judgment, the Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence passed on the appellant by the High Court of Edo state, sitting at Benin City.

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the appellant appealed against same to this Court vide a notice of appeal dated and filed the same day on 12th June, 2013 and raising two grounds of appeal.

SUMMARY OF THE FACTS

The facts of this case as may be gleaned from the evidence of record are that on the 23rd day of December, 2006 the PW1 (one Franca Okuonurie) whilst returning from Abuja was dropped off by the bus she was travelling in at AP junction, Irrua. Whilst at the junction, the appellant – a commercial motor cyclist rider approached PW1 and offered to give a ride on his motor bike to Obedu 1 at a fare of N300. PW1 and the appellant eventually settled for to give her N200.00.

In the course of their Journey, PW1 asked the appellant to take

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Akho junction into lrrua, a request which the appellant turned down on the basis that there were policemen at the junction. So, the appellant took Agric Road instead. The appellant went past Agric junction and headed into the bush, where the appellant asked PW1 to come down. Thereafter, the appellant beat her and asked her to give him all that she had otherwise he (appellant) would stab her with the knife he was holding.

The appellant, after forcefully removing the weave on from PW1’s head, gave her a bite on her left breast as a result of which she fainted and stayed in the bush all through the night

The appellant robbed PW1 of the items she was carrying; a bag of rice, bag of salt, cloths, meat, necklace, wrist watch, shoes and the sum of N42,000.00 cash given to her by her brother in respect of the house he was building.

PW1’s brother returned from Lagos on the 26th December, 2006. The next day, that is 27th December, 2006, they (PW1 and the brother) decided to report the incident to the police. On their way to the police station, somewhere around Akho junction, PW1 saw and identified the appellant as the person, who robbed her on the night of

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23rd December, 2006. As soon as the appellant saw PW1, he started to run with his motorbike whereupon PW1 and her brother gave him a chase. They saw the appellant enter a particular building. PW1 and her brother then went and invited Policemen. As PW1, her brother and the Policemen were coming back to the building where the appellant had run into, the appellant who saw them again ran into a mechanic workshop where the Policemen arrested him.

The appellant was initially taken to Irrua Police station and after investigation, he was arraigned before a Magistrate Court for stealing and assault occasioning harm. At the commencement of trial, after going through the facts, the trial magistrate ordered that the matter be further investigated as there were elements of violence in the case.