Inyang Edet Vs The State (1988)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

UWAIS, J.S.C. 

This appeal was summarily dismissed on the 22nd day of September, 1988 and we intimated then that our reasons for the dismissal would be given today. I now state my reasons.

The appellant together with three others were arraigned in the High Court of Lagos State before Oguntade, J. (as he then was) on a charge of murder. The appellant was convicted and sentenced to death while the other accused persons were discharged and acquitted.

The facts of the case as found by the learned trial judge are as follows. On the 4th of June, 1983 one Elizabeth gave birth to a baby. P.W.3 – the daughter of Macaulay Isong, now deceased, was asked by her mother P.W.2, to go and assist Elizabeth with her chores. Whilst with Elizabeth, P.W.3 was asked by the former to gather her clothes from a drying line as it was about to rain. In collecting the clothes P.W.3 mistakenly collected also the pant of the 4th accused person who is a lady. Because the 4th accused person was annoyed by this she beat P.W.3.

When P.W.2 heard P.W.3 crying she asked what was wrong and P.W.3 told her that she (P.W.3) was beaten by the 4th accused person. A quarrel ensued between P.W.2 and the 4th accused person. At the time the quarrel was going on, the deceased came into the compound, where everyone so far mentioned lived, and asked what had happened. The 3rd accused person called the deceased a rogue. The deceased retorted by calling the 3rd accused person a thief.

There was a fight between deceased and the 3rd accused person. The deceased went out of the compound. He met the 2nd accused person (now appellant) and the 1st accused person waiting by the road side. As an argument ensued between the deceased and the 1st accused, an empty bottle was thrown at the deceased. The deceased bent down to pick the bottle but could not do so as he was prevented by the 1st accused who held him. The appellant picked the bottle and broke it before stabbing the deceased with it in the stomach.

The deceased struggled to free himself from the grip of the 1st accused and in so doing both the deceased and 1st accused fell into a ditch that was full of stagnant water. The deceased was bleeding from the stab wound. P. W.2 took the deceased to the Police Station at Maroko where she was given a note to take the deceased to the General Hospital, Lagos. At the general hospital, the deceased was given an injection before he was admitted.

The following morning an operation was performed on the deceased. His wounds were stitched and plaster was put on the stitches. The deceased was then discharged but he continued to complain of pain. Five days later that is on the 10th June, 1983 his condition became worse and he was in serious pain. He could not get out of bed. As the deceased was employed as a messenger by the Nigerian Ports Authority, P.W.2 took him to Ethiope Hospital, which is a private hospital retained by the Nigerian Ports Authority. The deceased was admitted in the hospital. Two days later when P.W.2 went to the hospital to see the deceased, she found that he had died. P.W.2 went to the Police Station at Maroko and made a report.

The body of the deceased was removed from the private hospital to the General Hospital, Lagos. A post mortem examination was conducted on the body by P. W.1 after it was identified to him by P.W.2. In his testimony, P.W.1, a medical officer, said that the deceased was about 30 years old and had two areas with stitches below his left ribs. The first area had 7 stitches covering a wound that was 9 centimeters long. The second wound was 3 centimeters long and had 2 stitches. The doctor further said –

“The stomach was normal with bile stained liquid. The liver was firm. The spleen was enlarged and firm. There was pus in both kidneys. From my findings on the examination conducted my opinion is that cause of death is consistent with stab wound. I certify the cause of death to be shock and internal haemorrhage due to these wounds.”

The defence gave evidence and called witnesses. In his evidence, the appellant denied that he stabbed the deceased with a bottle. He said,

“It is not true that the 3rd accused gave me a bottle or any sharp instrument to stab the deceased. I did not use any bottle or sharp instrument to stab the deceased.”

Earlier on the 1st accused person testified that he was charged of manslaughter together with the appellant before the Yaba Magistrate’s Court. He said that he pleaded not guilty to the charge and that the case was still pending in the Magistrate’s Court at the time of his testimony in the present case. The charge sheet in the Magistrate’s Court which was tendered at the trial and was admitted as exhibit G. reads-

“Charge No. N/203/83