Cletus Okwuchukwu Iche V. The State (2013)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

JOHN INYANG OKORO, J.C.A (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Imo State High Court holden at Mgbidi in Charge No. HOU/8C/2001 delivered on the 3rd day of April, 2008 by Hon. Justice Nonyerem Okoronkwo wherein the appellant was convicted of the murder of one Godwin Ezike and sentenced to death by hanging.

The appellant was charged with murder contrary to Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. 30 Vol. II Laws of Eastern Nigeria 1963 as applicable to Imo State. The prosecution called a total of five witnesses and tendered exhibits in proof of the charge. The appellant testified in his defence and denied the charge. In a considered judgment delivered on 3rd April, 2008, the learned trial judge found the appellant guilty of murder and accordingly sentenced him to death. The facts of the case are as hereunder summarized.

Sometime in April, 2000, one Sunday Iche, a brother of the appellant died in Lagos. The circumstances that led to his death were not given but his corpse was brought home to Ngwulobi Village, Akuma, Oru East Local Government Areas of Imo State and was buried on 18th April, 2000. Believing that the said Sunday Iche did not die a natural death and that he was poisoned, there was so much animosity in the bereaved family such that it was thought that their relation Godwin Ezike who also lived in Lagos must have been responsible for the death of the said Sunday Iche by poisoning. After the burial of Sunday Iche, the grief and animosity over his death persisted.

On 20th April, 2000, Godwin Ezike, the deceased, his wife Rose Ezike and their last infant son Ebuka visited their home town which is the same as that of the appellant presumably to join in the funeral rites of Sunday Iche who had been buried on 18/4/2000. They were advised to refrain from going to the funeral of late Sunday Iche because the family of Sunday Iche believed that Godwin Ezike was responsible for the death of their son. In view of this caution, Godwin Ezike and his wife refrained from visiting the family of late Sunday Iche whose father Joseph Iche was said to be threatening death for Godwin Ezike if he had returned with the corpse of Sunday Iche.

On the following day being the 21st day of April, 2000, at about 11a.m., Godwin Ezike, his wife Rose Ezike ad their seven year old son Ebuka strolled over to the village market Afor Awaka. They stopped by the shop of one Anna Nwokeji and bought some mangoes. As Godwin Ezike was paying for the fruits, the appellant and another person Ada Iche who was also charged along with him, emerged and a quarrel ensued about the cause of death of Sunday Iche who was the elder brother of the appellant and Ada. The quarrel led to a scuffle between the appellant and the deceased Godwin Ezike.

In the process, the appellant stabbed the deceased with a pen knife on his upper back chest and another one on the front chest. Godwin Ezike slumped and died there in the presence of his wife and seven year old son. When Felix Odumgbe, a senior brother of the deceased Godwin heard about what happened, he immediately headed towards Afor Itutu Market. He testified as PW2. On his way he met the appellant and his sister and one of their younger one Pontain Iche as they were boasting that they had accomplished their mission as instructed. PW4 and PW5 were police officers who investigated the matter while PW3 was the medical doctor who tendered the autopsy report conducted by one Dr. Jonathan Osuji.

The appellant, in his testimony said that he was returning from school on the fateful date and met the deceased near Afor Market. According to him, he thanked the deceased for killing his brother. He stated that the deceased chased him, caught him and started beating him. He further stated that the deceased picked a bamboo to hit him but he struggled to wriggle himself from the grip of the deceased. He stated that both of them fell down and as they fell on the ground the deceased fell on the bamboo and got wounded. He then ran to their house.

At the conclusion of evidence by both the prosecution and the defence, the learned trial judge preferred the evidence of the prosecution over and above that of the defence. The appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

Dissatisfied with the said conviction and sentence, the appellant filed notice of appeal on 21st April, 2008. The said notice is also dated 21st April, 2008. Ten grounds of appeal are raised in the notice. Thereafter the appellant filed 16 additional grounds of appeal on 16/11/09 out of which the learned counsel for the appellant Chief E. C. Onumajuru formulated four issues for the determination of this appeal. K. A. Leweanya (Mrs.) Principal State Counsel who settled the brief of the respondent distilled five issues as listed in her brief of argument. When this appeal was heard on 18th February, 2012 both counsel adopted and relied on their respective briefs.

The four issues decoded by the appellant are as follows:

“(i) Whether the lower court infringed upon the appellant’s fundamental human right to fair hearing in the determination of the matter before the lower court. (Distilled from Ground of Appeal No. 2) in the Notice of Appeal and Grounds of Appeal Nos. 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 & 25 in the Notice of Additional grounds of appeal.

ii) Whether the lower court was right when in its ruling on the trial within trial, it admitted the alleged confessional statements of the appellant as Exhibit C & D respectively? Distilled from Grounds of Appeal Nos. 7 and 8 in the Notice of Appeal and Ground of Appeal No. 19 in the Notice of Additional grounds of appeal.

iii) Whether the lower court was right when it re-opened the issue of the age of the appellant and held that the appellant was not under the age of 17 years at the time of the commission of the alleged offence? Distilled from Grounds of Appeal Nos. 1 & 3 in the Notice of Appeal and from Grounds of Appeal Nos. 11 & 12 of the Notice of Additional Grounds of Appeal.