Akinlo Ifedayo V. The State (2014)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

MOHAMMED A. DANJUMA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of his Lordship O. O. Akeredolu J. of the High Court of Ondo State sitting at Akure Judicial Division, delivered on the 20th day of March, 2013.

The Appellant and three others were arraigned before the Ondo State High Court sitting at Akure for conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery and receiving stolen property contrary to and punishable under Sections 6 (b), 1 (2) (a) and 5 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, cap, R 11, Vol. 14, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The Appellant and other accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge and the case proceeded to hearing. The prosecution called three (3) witnesses and tendered various Exhibits. The accused persons testified in defence and called no other witness.

The case of the prosecution was that the Appellant and two others on 12th November, 2011, while armed with guns, axes and other dangerous weapons, robbed one Dr. Ademola Obanoyen at his residence situated at No. 53 Irugbe Street, Ijebu-Owo of cash and other valuable items which include laptops, phones. Including one Nokia customized multilinks phone.

PW1. Corporal Edu Owolabi attached to ‘A’ Division Owo, testified that he was on duty on 12th December, 2011, the Divisional Traffic Officer called the charge room to report an ongoing robbery at No. 53 Irugbe Street, Ijebu Owo. Immediately, he left for the scene with some patrol team.

On getting to the scene, they met a man at the gate, the man was not armed suddenly the man pulled out a pistol and shot at them, the man entered the scene of crime, he was unable to catch him as he jumped the fence and ran away, though he could identify the man in the moonlight as it was very bright. When they entered into the house they met the victim with bruises; they took him to the hospital.

In the course of their investigation, the complainant gave them numbers of the stolen phones but that only the one with number 07027000750 rang and was not picked. He told the court that the person he saw at the scene is the 2nd accused person. He later transferred the case to state Anti Robbery Squad Akure, for being lacking in jurisdiction to handle armed robbery cases.

PW2 Corporal Omege Iriemi testified that a case of armed robbery was transferred from ‘A’ Division Owo to SARS and assigned to his team for investigation. In the course of investigation, the 1st accused person was arrested, he asked her for the phone to which credit had been sent. She Informed them that it was in her house; a search warrant was executed in her house and a customized Nokia multilink phone property of Dr. Obanoyen Ademola was recovered from her; it was admitted as Exhibit A1 and A2. He said he was also in the team that investigated the Diamond Bank armed robbery which occurred in December, 2011 and for which 2nd – 4th accused person were arrested. During the interrogation they confessed to series of robberies within and outside Ondo State including that of Dr. Obanoyen. They volunteered a confessional statement which he recorded. The statement of the 1st accused person was admitted in evidence as Exhibit A3 without objection. The confessional statement of the 2nd accused person was admitted in evidence as Exhibit A4 after conducting trial within trial. After overruling the objection of the defence Counsel for the admissibility of the confessional statement of 2nd and 4th accused persons on ground of being retracted the trial court admitted it as Exhibit A5 and A6 respectively, while the confessional attestation forms of the 2nd – 4th accused person was admitted as Exhibit A7, A8 and A9 respectively.

PW3 Dr. Ademola Obanoyen, the victim of the armed robbery, testified that he lives at No. 53 Irugbe Street, Ijebu-Owo. On the 12th November, 2011 at about 1:00a.m. He was woken up by the barking of his dogs. He heard some men beside the window of his bedroom, one of them shouted his name and asked him to open the door and threatened him of what they would do to him and it would be useless for him to call the police, and with the bright moon light he recognized one of them as his neighbour popularly known as ‘Better-Life’, and he called the police. Before the police came, about 5 of them entered the house with cutlasses, guns, axes and other dangerous weapons, through the wall they broke in. They started beating him and smashed a bottle on his head, he was asked for money and phones which he gave to them. Some searched wardrobes and packed what they wanted. They asked of key to his vehicle and attempted to start the vehicle but the alarm started. He heard gun shots from outside. The men whispered to themselves that police must be around and they left. When the police came in, including Corporal Edu, he discovered that the armed robbers entered the house by breaking the wall to the living room. He discovered that one of the phones that were carted away is a Nokia brand customized for Multilinks and gave the number to the policemen. A few days later the neighbor whom he sighted among the robbers re-surfaced and was arrested and taken to (SARS). Two days later, he was invited to identify his phone which he did and the phone was truly his. The lady with whom the phone was found was charged to Magistrate Court Owo and her father came to beg him to discontinue with the case promising him that he will produce Mukaila once his daughter is released. He explained that Mukaila was his daughter’s friend who must have given her the phone. He was later called from (SARS) that the armed robbers that robbed him had been arrested in connection of Diamond Bank robbery. He was surprised that they told the police in his presence that he is the Doctor they robbed in November 2011, but he could not recognize any of them as it was the second time he would be seeing them.

At the close of the prosecution’s case, the Appellant testified in his defence and denied his involvement in the armed robbery. He maintained that he was never at the scene of the armed robbery incident but that he was in his residence. That on the 27th January, 2012 some boys fought, including the son of his landlord. On the next day policemen knocked at his door, when he opened they arrested him and realized that they have arrested some boys in his street and were taken to the station. He was asked concerning the fight, he denied knowing anything about it, and he was detained, he called his wife to bail him out and she was asked to bring N60,000.00 for bail which she was unable to raise. “On the 30th January, I was called out and met these two boys in the Hilux and we were taken to SARS at Akure. They asked me at the SARS whether I know them and I said no. They also asked me series of questions about robbery incident; I said I don’t know. About a month and some days later, they brought me out again and brought a man named Dr. Obanoyen, I did not know him before, whether he knows any one of us, he said no he did not know us, and they locked us back to cell. I was surprised they took us to court, but to my own surprise we were in court with a girl again.”

At the close of evidence and addresses from both sides, the learned trial judge delivered judgment on the 20th March, 2013 and found the Appellant and other three accused persons guilty of the offence of conspiracy, armed robbery and receiving stolen property and sentenced 2nd – 4th accused persons to death and the 1st accused person to life imprisonment accordingly.

Dissatisfied with the conviction and sentence, the Appellant who was the 3rd accused person at the trial in the court below filed a notice of appeal dated 4th April, 2013 and filed on 7th May, 2013. By leave of court the Appellant filed an Amended Notice of Appeal dated 21st March, 2014 and filed on the 24th day of March, 2014 but deemed filed and granted on the 19/3/2014 containing three grounds of appeal.

Appellant’s Brief of Argument dated 28th April, 2014 was filed on 29th April, 2014.