Samuel Adaje V. The State (1979)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

IRIKEFE, J.S.C.

After learned counsel for the appellant had addressed us in this appeal, and without calling upon learned counsel for the respondent in reply, we dismissed it and indicated that we would give our reasons later. This we now do.

The appellant was tried at the Sapele Judicial Division of the High Court of Bendel State on a charge, which alleged that he had murdered one Johnson Uduenye (m) at Sapele, on or about the 3rd day of November 1975.

The prosecution had earlier on obtained leave of the court of trial to prefer the above charge and had served on the appellant a copy of the proposed indictment as well as a list of intended witnesses and the proof of evidence of each witness.

At the hearing, six witnesses testified for the prosecution, while the appellant gave evidence in his own defence, but called no witnesses.

The court, after evaluating the entire evidence, found the charge proved, convicted the appellant and sentenced him to death.

Being aggrieved by the above decision, the appellant appealed unsuccessfully to the Court of Appeal, and now to this Court. The conviction is dependent on the testimony of P. W.1, P. W .2, P. W.3 and P.W.4. P.W.1 (Samuel Oladetimeyin) stated that on or about 3rd November, 1975 while he was at his home in the Oguaja area of Sapele, the deceased, Johnson Uduenye, a relation, came to visit him. They both sat down to a game of draughts and not long thereafter were joined by the appellant, an acquaintance of theirs. The appellant remained with them for sometime and as he rose to go away, a lady, P. W.3 (Kingsway Eyomi), also residing in that compound, spotted him and insisted that he should not do so, until he had paid her the sum of 5 kobo, being the value of cigarettes which she had sold to him on credit two days earlier.

At first the appellant denied having made such a purchase and in consequence thereof there was an argument. In order to put an end to the argument, the appellant, in anger, produced a 10 kobo coin, gave same to P.W.3 and asked for 5 kobo change. Before P.W.3 could produce the change, the appellant began to swear juju on the money and this put fear into P.W.3, who then refused to take what was owing to her. The deceased, who had been observing this drama, intervened and queried the appellant for resorting to the swearing of juju over as little a sum as 5 kobo. In reply, the appellant stated that he had done so, because he did not wish to pay a debt he did not owe.

As the appellant was about to go away after responding as above, the deceased insisted that he should revoke the juju before doing so. The appellant lost his temper over this, and dealt the deceased a slap. A fight then ensued between the two, but the people present promptly separated and pacified them. The deceased and the appellant then left the place and each went his own respective way. Shortly after this, the appellant returned and boasted to P. W.3 that she would witness the shedding of blood that day. Later that night, there was a commotion down the road and this made P. W.1 to go and investigate. On arrival at the scene of commotion, P.W.1 found the dead body of the deceased lying on the ground, with blood gushing out from the back of the head.

P.W.3 (Kingsway Eyomi) testified in an almost identical manner up to the point when there was a fight followed by separation. She added that after the fight, she decided to call on a friend. As she was on her way and about to enter into the friend’s compound, the appellant caught up with her and said to her hearing that she (P.W.3) would be mistaken if she thought that the fight, which had just ended, was in fact over. He said he was going away then, but that he would surely return and that unless he washed the ground with someone’s blood, he would not find sleep. Having spoken thus, the appellant turned and went away.

P. W.3 stated that she got so frightened by what the appellant had said that she decided not to continue with the call she had intended to make on a friend. She quickly returned to her compound and repeated aloud to those present what the appellant had been saying.

Not long after this, word came that a person was lying dead on the road and P. W.3 went to view the body along with others. She saw the corpse of the deceased lying on the ground with blood oozing out from the neck. The sight of the deceased’s body brought vividly back to her mind the threat earlier made by the appellant during their last encounter.

P. W.2 (Samson Egbaho), the only eye-witness to the second encounter between the appellant and the deceased which resulted in the latter’s death, stated that on 2nd November, 1975 at about 8pm while he was cooking in his hotel, he saw two men quarrelling at a road junction nearby in the Itsekiri language. Although he does not understand the said language, he heard the deceased say to the appellant – “Wo mean Uja we” – which in English means – “So you mean this fight”. He said he also saw a third man trying to advise the two to desist from fighting apparently without success. This third man withdrew from the scene when the appellant slapped the deceased. The deceased retaliated and fighting began. He stated that as the deceased aimed his blows at the appellant, the latter kept moving backwards into Boyo Road. He added that after the two combatants had left the road, the appellant gave the deceased a blow on the occiput, which resulted in the latter falling down.

On seeing the deceased fall, the appellant immediately took to his heels. P. W.2 said that when he and others rushed to where the deceased fell, they saw blood issuing out from his occiput. The deceased soon became unconscious and some of those present ran to the police station to make a report. P.W.2 gave the distance between his hotel and where he had seen the two men arguing as 30 feet, while the ultimate point where the deceased fell was some 6 feet short of the earlier distance.