Lasisi Saliu V. The State (1984)

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KAWU, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal which affirmed the conviction of the appellant and the sentence of death passed on him on the 1st day of February, 1977 by Ayorinde J, sitting at Ibadan in the Ibadan Judicial Division of Oyo State for the murder of one Adeola Sallrnonu, also known as Adeola Abeje.

The facts of the case were not in dispute and these were contained in the evidence of 2PW who was the deceased’s landlord at the time. The relevant portion of 2PW’s testimony is as follows:-

“On the 16th June, 19771 went to bed at about 10.00 p.m. About 12 midnight, a noise woke me up. It was one Adeola Abeje otherwise known as Adeola Salimanu, who was making the noise. She was crying ‘save me’ ‘save me’ from the first room on the right of my house where she was sleeping. I rose from the bed and ran to the direction of where Adeola Salimonu was.

The door of Adeola Salimonu’s room was shut. I pushed the door open with my right hand. When I entered the room I met Lasisi Saliu stabbing the said Adeola Salimonu. I then shouted – ‘what was the matter’ Then Lasisi Saliu, the accused pointed the dagger with which he was stabbing Adeola Salimonu to me and said ‘who else’, I dodged the accused and the accused ran out and found his way out. While running out, he made his way out by waving his dagger to other inmates of the house who have (sic) gathered in the passage at the time. The accused ran out of his room and made his way out through the front door to the house when he took to his heels and ran out of the house.”

About four days later the appellant was arrested at Abeokuta. He was subsequently charged with the murder of the deceased and convicted. His appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed.

After hearing the submissions of both counsel in this appeal on 22nd August, 1984, we dismissed the appeal for lack of merit, and indicated that we would, today, give our reasons for doing so. I shall now proceed to give my reasons.

Originally two grounds of appeal were filed but learned counsel for the appellant sought and obtained leave of this court to file and argue one additional ground of appeal. Thereafter he announced that he was abandoning his original grounds which were consequently struck out. The additional ground of appeal argued reads as follows:-

“The learned trial judge erred in law in holding that the appellant was ‘guilty’ instead of finding him ‘not guilty by reason of the unsoundness of mind’ and the Court of Appeal also erred in law in dismissing the appeal instead of reversing the verdict.”

In the brief filed on behalf of the appellant by Chief Debo Akande in support of this ground of appeal, four specific points were raised and they are as follows:-

“Firstly it is my submission that the examination of the appellant by an ordinary general practitioner is faulty since he is not a psychiatrist and therefore cannot correctly or absolutely gives an opinion on the state of mind of the appellant. Secondly, the incident occured in June, and the appellant was examined in November by a general practitioner leaving a period of 5 months before examination and observation, wherein the condition cannot be said to be the same. Thirdly, there was evidence of Dr. Aboderin (Page 7 lines 27 – 32), that the assailant of the deceased could be temporarily insane or angry, and the fact that he had not seen many of the types of wounds inflicted on the deceased (page 7 lines 18 and 19) which would make them ‘unusual’ or ‘abnormal’, Fourthly, there was evidence that the appellant did not know what he was doing at the time of the incident and that he had had the urge to kill on several occasions (page 4 lines 34 and 35 and page 23 lines 6,7,8,35 and 36) and these pieces of evidence were not diminished nor was there a contrary evidence. See R v Omani 12 WAC.A. 511 at page 513, Iwuanyanwu v The State 1961 1All N.L.A. 413, R V Inyang 12 WAC.A 5 and Ngene Arum v The State 1979 11 S.C. 91.”

I will take the points one by one.

With regard to the first point the record shows that when the appellant appeared before the learned trial judge on 9th October, 1978, after the charge had been read and the appellant had pleaded not guilty, the court directed as follows:-

“Court:- In view of the observations of the demeanours of the accused by the court it is deemed necessary to send the accused for medical examination by the prison doctor preferably a specialist psychiatrist for one month. It is hereby ordered that the accused be subjected for medical observation for one month starting not later than 13th October, 1978.”