Stephen Oteki V. Attorney-general Bendel State (1986)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

UWAIS, J.S.C

At the High Court of Bendel State sitting at Abudu, the appellant, a policeman, was charged with the murder of one Monday Aghahowa contrary to the provisions of section 319 subsection (1) of the Criminal Code of Bendel State, Cap.48 (Laws of Bendel State, 1976).

The case for the prosecution at the trial was that the accused stabbed the deceased with a dagger in the stomach following a quarrel. The facts that led to the quarrel are as follows. The deceased in company of Ayo Johnbull, PW1, invited the accused to a funeral ceremony which took place at Eguare junction at Ugo in Bendel State. PW1 was wearing a shirt which belonged to the deceased.

The accused claimed the shirt to be his. Consequently a dispute ensued between the accused and PW1. The deceased made peace between them. Later a quarrel arose between the accused and the deceased because, according to PW1, the latter asked to know who gave him (PW1) the shirt in question. But James Aghohowa (PW2) who was the father of the deceased said the quarrel was due to the accused ‘abusing’ him (PW2) to the hearing of the deceased.

The quarrel was settled by PW2 and the accused went home, only to return to the funeral ceremony with a dagger. The deceased who stood by a car to ease himself was stabbed in the stomach by the accused PW1 was the only eye-witness to the stabbing. The deceased shouted that he was stabbed by the accused and a number of the people present at the funeral ceremony attempted to arrest the accused, but he escaped.

The intestines of the deceased protruded and he (deceased) died not long afterwards on the way to a hospital. The incident took place on 11th January, 1983. The dead body of the deceased was taken to the accused’s house where it was left for 2 days. The accused went into hiding for 2 days before reporting himself to the Police at Urhonigbe.

In his defence, the accused testified. He confirmed that he was invited to the funeral ceremony by the deceased and that he agreed to attend but only after persuasion. He said that at the ceremony the deceased challenged him as to why he earlier slapped PW1. After explaining that he did so because his clothes were stolen from his house, he apologised to PW1 as requested by the deceased.

A short while later PW1 and the deceased went aside for discussion. After the discussion the deceased slapped the accused twice. The accused said he made report to PW2 who pleaded with him not to arrest the deceased as he had earlier intended to do. Later the deceased slapped the accused twice again, pulling out a knife and threatening that he would kill the accused.

As the accused decided to leave the scene, he saw the deceased following him with a knife in his hand. When the deceased caught up with the accused a struggle ensued between them and the latter knocked down the deceased on the ground. The deceased was still holding the knife when PW2 came to the scene and intervened by asking the accused to go home.

The accused left accordingly but heard later that the deceased had died. Following the death, the house of the accused’s father was attacked by the relations of the deceased. Hence the accused fled to the bush. After two days of hiding, he went to the Police Station at Urhonigbe and reported himself to the police.

In his judgment, the learned trial judge believed the prosecution’s case. He disbelieved the accused’s evidence and rejected his defence. The accused was therefore convicted of murder as charged.

The accused then appealed to the Court of Appeal. At the hearing of the appeal his counsel submitted that there was nothing useful that he could urge in his favour, and counsel for the prosecution made the same submission. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The appeal now before us is from that decision.

Two grounds of appeal, which were faulty, were originally filed by the appellant. Leave was later granted for him to file and argue three additional grounds. The original grounds merely complained against what the trial judge did and made no mention of what transpired In the Court of Appeal. They were therefore abandoned and only the additional grounds on grounds of appeal were canvassed. I think it is necessary to quote the additional grounds. They read as follows:

(1) The learned Justices of the Court of Appeal erred in law in affirming the judgment of the learned trial Judge convicting the Appellant of murder and sentencing him to death when