Okunade Kolawole V The State (2015)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

MARY UKAEGO PETER-ODILI, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal or Court below sitting in Ibadan. The said judgment was delivered on the 13th October, 2011 affirming the judgment of the Ogun State High Court, Ijebu-Ode Judicial Division per C. C. Ogunsanya J. on the 23rd December, 2009. The Appellant and others were tried on a two count charge of Conspiracy to commit Armed Robbery and Armed Robbery contrary to Section 6 (b) and 1 (2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, CAP R.II, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The case of the prosecution at the trial court was that on the 7/5/07 at about 9.30p.m, the PW1, who was the Managing Director of FAO Constant Petroleum at Ilese, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State closed for the day at the filling station. He took the day’s proceeds, the sum of three hundred and fifty-seven thousand, one hundred and fifty naira in his car with one of his staff and while driving along the road, he saw a motorcycle with three men coming behind his vehicle, which overtook his car and blocked his vehicle in front.

That the three men rushed down from the motorcycle, attacked him, seriously beating him and with a broken bottle injured him making away with the money and two mobile phones in the vehicle. The staff of the complainant was able to escape while the complainant assisted by two people around pursued the robbers without success. That on getting back to the scene of crime, his brother, Leke Osiyemi told him that he saw the Appellant around the filling station that day. The case was later reported to the police who arrested the first accused person and upon the arrest he confessed and mentioned the names of the two others who were then arrested.

On the arrest of the second accused person, the mobile phone of the complainant was found on him. The prosecution had called two witnesses.

The case put forward by the defence when Appellant testified was a denial of the charge and an objection to the admissibility of the additional statement which he asserted was involuntarily obtained and that the signature looked different from the earlier statement, Exhibit B which he had no objection to. There was a trial-within-trial over the additional statement which the court admitted as Exhibit C and that it was voluntarily made. The Appellant made another confessional statement which was not objected to and was admitted as Exhibit E and another one admitted as Exhibit F. The mother of the Appellant testified for the defence.

At the end of the trial, the Appellant and the two other accused persons were convicted of the offences of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery. Dissatisfied, the Appellant appealed to the Court below which affirmed the judgment of the trial court hence this appeal to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Ikenna Okoli, learned counsel for the Appellant on the 4th day of December, 2014 date of hearing adopted the Appellant’s Brief of Argument filed on 26/3/12. In the Brief were raised four issues for determination of the appeal which are thus:-

1. Whether the judgment of the Court of Appeal met the requirements of a good appellate judgment
2. Whether the Court of Appeal was right in relying on Exhibits G and H (alleged confessional Statements of the Appellant’s co-accused) as corroborative evidence against the Appellant
3. Whether the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the trial court rightly attached much weight to Exhibits C, E and F (the alleged confessional statements of the appellant) and convicting the appellant thereon
4. Whether the Court of Appeal was right in upholding the trial Court’s conviction of the Appellant for the offences of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery

J. K. Omotosho Esq, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions for the State adopted the Respondent’s Brief filed on 13/6/2012 and in which were crafted two issues for determination, viz:-

1. Whether the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal were right in affirming that the trial court was right in admitting Exhibits C, E and F (the confessional statements of the Appellant) in evidence and attaching evidential weight to them and using same in convicting the Appellant.
2. Whether the Respondent proved the offences of Conspiracy to commit Armed Robbery and Armed Robbery beyond reasonable doubt against the Appellant

The issues as formulated by the Respondent seem to me easier to utilise and I shall use them in the determination of this appeal.

ISSUE NO. 1:

This calls for the answer whether the Court below was right in affirming that the trial court was right in admitting Exhibits C, E and F in evidence and attaching evidential weight to them in convicting the Appellant.

Learned counsel for the Appellant referred to Exhibits C, E and F, the alleged confessional statements made by the appellant and Exhibit B, Appellant’s first statement where he denied any involvement in the alleged armed robbery. That the Court below ignored the appellant counsel’s submission that the regularity of a signature and not showing off any scars cannot be a proper basis to hold that Exhibit C was voluntary as the signature will normally be procured after a cooling off period between being beaten and intimidated, to signing off a purported voluntary statement and it is not always that there will be a permanent scar from the torture, He cited Section 28 of the Evidence Act 1945 similar to Section 29 (2) of the Evidence Act, 2011. That the Court of Appeal ought to have been more circumspect in affirming the position of the trial court that Exhibit C was voluntarily made.