Daniel Okweji V. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2003)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

IGNATIUS CHUKWUDI PATS ACHOLONU, J.C.A. 

The Appellant was convicted of an offence under Section 1(a) of the Advance Free Fraud and Other related offences contrary Act No.13 of 1995 in that he defrauded the prosecutor Ifesinachi Industries Ltd. to the tune of N60000.00 by falsely pretending that he would procure for the company through auction sale a 26/24 Break down Reco vehicle, and which vehicle he never procured. Both sides gave divergent stories as to what really transpired.

The Respondent i.e. the Prosecutor’s case was that the Appellant induced Igwe James Mamah or his company to give him the sum of N55000 to use in making necessary arrangements for the purchase of the vehicle. Later the Appellant had collected further N200000 and finally N25000.00 on other different occasions. Later the Appellant came and told P.W.1 that he bought the vehicle for N600000 and when P.W.1 sought to give a cheque of N500000 the appellant refused and opted for a draft which P.W.1 made out a sum of N400000 in Orient Bank draft and a sum of N100000 in cash – all making a total of N600000 which P.W.1 claimed to have given the appellant on various occasions ostensibly for the purchase of the vehicle. Notwithstanding this amount given out for buying the vehicle, no vehicle was supplied.

The Appellant on the other hand said that it was P.W.1 who saw the vehicle first and sought to find out from him how the appellant could help him to purchase a 26/24 Retrievable vehicle. He went on to state that when he saw one he contacted P.W.1 who contacted his manager in Lagos and who accompanied the appellant to the Federal Fire Service at Oju-Elegba Lagos to inspect the vehicle. There and then they were told that the sale price was N600000. The Appellant claimed that the sum of money advanced to him was for the boarding of vehicle in readiness for the auction sale. Later when he went to Abuja to pay for the vehicle, he was informed that the vehicle was not allocated to him, the Minister of Works then saying that there would be a competitive bidding process. Even after the price tag was set higher than was hitherto represented by the owners, P.W.1 still, asked the appellant to bid for N1,000,000. Even at that, they could not purchase the vehicle. This angered P.W.1 who caused him to be arrested, even though he P.W. quietly went and bought that same vehicle from the persons who succeeded in buying it at an auction sale.

It would seem that from the date of arrest and detention to the end of the trial, the Appellant had spent about 3 years in prison. However on conviction he was sentenced to a total of 10 years without the court taking into consideration the number of years he had been incarcerated before the end of the trial.

Dissatisfied with the verdict and the nature of the sentence the appellant then as a prisoner appealed to this court and from the grounds of appeal framed 5 issues for determination, which are;

“(1) Whether there was a valid charge before the Court for obtaining by false pretences in accordance with the definition in section 23 of the Decree No. 13 of 1995.

(2) Whether there had been a satisfactory evidence of investigation of this case in the absence of evidence of the Police Investigation Officer Cpl. Samuel Egbuna and or his written Police Investigation report being tendered in his absence.

(3) Whether it can be said by the totality of evidence on record in this case that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

(4) Whether a Trial Judge who had transferred a case out of his court to another court after a heated argument during proceedings can justifiably retract the order of transfer on the Application of the Prosecution without hearing the defence on the point.

(5) Whether the sentence was excessive in this case in the light of the evidence before the court.”

The Respondent on its part waived off as irrelevant and therefore uncalled the issue as to whether there was a valid charge and whether there was a satisfactory Police investigation of the case. Four issues were made out by the Respondent for the consideration of the court.

“1. Whether the trial Judge was right in believing the P.W.1 and holding as he did that the Appellant caused P.W.1 to part with N600,000 by deceiving him that he the Appellant had bought a vehicle for P.W.1 for that amount.

2. Whether the misrepresentation made by the Appellant to P.W.1 that he had bought a vehicle for N600,000 for him, which caused P.W.1 to give the sum of N600,000 to the Appellant, is sufficient to ground a conviction under section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Decree No.13 of 1995.
3. Whether on the totality of the evidence the Prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
4. Whether the sentence was excessive.”

I must here state that it is unheard of for an appellant in a criminal appeal to frame an issue as to whether or not a satisfactory investigation was done in the case. It may be a matter for comment by the court of trial and the appellate court. It is no business of any court to arrogate to itself the supervisory power of ascertaining whether an offence was properly investigated. It is the duty of the prosecution aided by the security agency known as the Police to conduct investigations. I have to take judicial notice of the Police Act. Section 4 of the Police Act states as follows: