Friday Ameh V. The State (2018)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

JOHN INYANG OKORO, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, delivered on 26th June, 2015 wherein the lower Court affirmed the judgment of the Kogi State High Court sitting at Ankpa. The appellant and others were charged with criminal conspiracy, voluntarily causing hurt to extort property and Armed Robbery under Sections 97(1), 298 ( c) 250 (2) of the Penal Code respectively for which the Court below affirmed the conviction and sentence of the appellant to 5 years imprisonment for the offence of conspiracy, 7 years imprisonment for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to extort property and 15 years imprisonment for Armed Robbery earlier entered by the Trial High Court. A synopsis of the facts giving birth to the appeal will suffice.

It is the case of the prosecution that the accused person and others broke into the apartment of PW1 on 3rd August, 2012 at about 2.00 a.m and inflicted injuries on her head, neck, arm and leg and robbed her of the sum of Thirty Thousand Naira. PW1 identified the appellant as her nephew and the other accused person as his friend.

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PW2 is the Police Officer at Ankpa when the case of armed robbery was lodged. He took pictures of the victim while she was at the hospital and later arrested the accused persons including the appellant on a tip off. PW3 received the case from Ankpa to the State C.I.D at Lokoja and he also obtained the confessional statement of the accused person.

The Appellant who testified as DW1, told the trial Court that before his detention, he was living at Inye and that he is both an applicant and a farmer. He stated further that he did not know the other accused person until after his arrest on the 11th of August, 2012, when he was informed that he and others robbed Mrs. Elizabeth Wada on the 3rd of August 2012. According to him, on the date of the said robbery, he was away at Mubi in Adamawa State and only returned to Inye on the 6th of August, 2012. He stated under cross examination that a document was brought to him at the State C.I.D. Lokoja and he was asked to sign it. He stated that he did not get to read the document and that he knew Mrs. Elizabeth Wada and even visited her at the hospital.

At the close of evidence, counsel for both parties filed and

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exchanged written addresses. In a considered judgment delivered on the 18th of September, 2013, the learned trial judge convicted the accused persons for the three offences charged.

At pages 71 – 72 of the Record of Appeal, the Trial Court held as follows:

“In conclusion, I hold that the prosecution has proved the offences of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and voluntarily causing hurt to extort property punishable under Sections 97(1), 298(c) and 250 (2) respectively of the Penal Code beyond reasonable doubt against the accused persons. In consequence, I convict both accused persons for the three offences For the offence of criminal conspiracy, I sentence the convicts, i.e. Friday Ameh and Edinoh James to five years imprisonment each. For the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to extort property to seven years imprisonment each and for the offence of armed robbery, I sentence Friday Ameh and Edinoh James to Fifteen years imprisonment. The sentences shall run concurrently.”

Aggrieved by the above decision, the Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja. On the 26th day of June, 2015,

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the lower Court delivered its judgment dismissing the appellant’s appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial High Court.