Yekini Afosi V. The State (2013)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

OLUKAYODE ARIWOOLA, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal, herein after referred to as Court below, delivered on the 7th day of June, 2011 which affirmed the conviction and sentence of the Appellant by the Ogun State High Court, sitting in Ijebu-Igbo given on 15th December, 1999.

The Appellant had been charged with the offence of murder of one Mufutau Amusa on or about the 23rd day of August, 1997 at No.22 Idesan Street, Oke-Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo, in Ijebu-Igbo Judicial Division, contrary to Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 29, Laws of Ogun State of Nigeria, 1978.

Upon arraignment, the Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge, and the case proceeded to hearing. To prove its case, the Prosecution called six witnesses while the Appellant testified in defence and called one witness. The case of the Prosecution goes thus:

At about 9.30pm on 23/8/1997 in front of his house, the deceased tried to intervene in a quarrel between the Appellant and the 3rd PW – one Musibau Elesin, whom the Appellant had accused of shining a torchlight on his face. In the course of trying to pacify them, Appellant turned choleric. He cursed the deceased ceaselessly in the presence of the 1st PW, the wife of the deceased. Within a jiffy, the Appellant rushed into his house which was close by. He emerged with a dagger with which he stabbed the deceased in the back. The deceased slumped with the attack and fell down. The people around raised alarm which woke the 2nd PW, the deceased’s brother, from sleep and came out to the scene.

On seeing his brother on the ground, PW2 attempted to hold the Appellant who turned and stabbed him in the arm with same knife he had used on the deceased. The deceased and PW2 were rushed to the hospital where the deceased later died at about 2.00am in the early hour of the following morning. The death of the deceased was confirmed by PW4, a medical practitioner, after a post-mortem examination was carried out on the deceased’s body on 24/8/1997.

However, the Appellant’s own story was slightly different. It briefly goes thus – He, the Appellant had had a brawl with the deceased in the night of 23/8/1997 when the deceased smashed his gasoline lantern and pounced on him with some other persons from which he, the Appellant sustained injuries in the back of his head, while the deceased received his own injury on his back. He was not sure the deceased died from the encounter. The Appellant found himself in the hospital to receive treatment for the injury he sustained.

In his defence, the Appellant had proffered the defences of provocation and self defence but these were rejected by the trial Court. At the conclusion of the trial, the Court found the Appellant guilty as charged. He was convicted and sentenced accordingly.

On appeal to the Court below, the appeal was found unmeritorious and was dismissed. The conviction and sentence of the trial Court was affirmed. That decision has led to the instant appeal before us commenced with a Notice of Appeal with nine (9) Grounds of Appeal.

Pursuant to the rules of this Court, upon being served with the record of proceedings, parties duly filed and exchanged their respective brief of argument.

When the appeal came up for hearing on 21/3/2013, Learned Counsel for the Appellant, Chief Abayomi Alliyu adopted the Appellant’s brief of argument filed on 27/3/2012 and relied on same to urge the Court to allow the appeal, discharge and acquit the Appellant based on the arguments proffered in the said brief of argument.

For the Respondent, Ademola Bakre adopted and relied on the Respondent’s brief of argument filed on 29/6/2012 to urge the Court to dismiss the appeal.

From the nine Grounds of Appeal earlier filed, the Appellant distilled the following two issues for determination of the appeal.

Issues for Determination: