Isaac Stephen V. The State (1986)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

KAWU, J.S.C. 

On the 9th Octobers. 1986, this appeal came up for hearing, and after hearing submissions and argument of counsel, I dismissed the appeal and reserved the reasons for judgment till today. I now proceed to give my reasons for doing so.

The appellant was charged and arraigned before the High Court, Kwale (Eluaka, J.) for the offence of murder contrary to Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap. 48. Volume II. Laws of Bendel State of Nigeria 1976. The charge alleged that on or about the 3rd of May, 1981, at Igbuku, in the Kwale Judicial Division, he murdered one George Obi. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The prosecution’s case was that there was a disagreement between the appellant and a certain woman named Otueme Ogbondu (P. W. 7). It was over a plot of land which Otueme claimed was her husband’s plot and which plot the appellant had cleared without permission. When challenged by Otueme, the appellant told her that he had cleared the plot because he thought Oghondu was not going to use it. But 7 P.W. replied that she too wanted to make use of the land.

In the evening of the same day, appellant went to P.W.7 and demanded from her the sum of N6.00 for his labour in clearing her land. 7 P.W. refused to pay the amount on the ground that she had not employed the appellant to clear the land. The following day, which was the day of the incident, the appellant approached P.W. 7 and ,again, demanded payment but P.W.7 said she had no money. This was in the presence of one Osuaga Ngede (P. W. 4) and George Obi, the deceased. When the appellant persisted in his demand, George Obi appealed to him to go and return later for the money which he, (George Obi) promised to pay. It was alleged that the appellant left the place in anger.

He later returned with a gun and hid himself behind a tree. P. W. 7 testified that she heard the sound of a gunshot which was fired by the appellant, and on looking back she saw George Obi on the ground. He had been hit by bullets and died on the spot. The appellant took to his heels and vanished from the scene of the incident. A report was made to the Police and the appellant was subsequently arrested. On the 12th May, 1981, he voluntarily made a confessional statement to a Police Serpent (P.W.1) which statement he confirmed before a superior Police Officer (6.P.W.) on the same day. The statement was tendered at the trial and marked Exhibits ‘A’.

At the trial a number of witnesses gave evidence for the prosecution. The appellant gave evidence in his defence. He denied killing George Obi intentionally.

At the conclusion of the trial, the learned trial Judge gave very careful consideration to the totalily of the evidence adduced, and held that the charge had been proved against the Appellant. He found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death.

Being dissatisfied with the decision of the Trial court, the appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal on a number of grounds, and that court, in a unanimous decision given on the 5th March, 1986 dismissed his appeal and confirmed his conviction and the sentence of death passed on him.

The appellant has further appealed to this Court. Both counsel for the Appellant and counsel for the respondent had filed briefs of arguments on which they relied and expatiated in their arguments before us. In his brief, Mr. Shola Rhodes for the Appellant, has formula led the issues for determination in this appeal as follows:-

“1. Whether the trial court considered in detail, the possible defences of provocation, self-defence and accident as required by law;

2. Whether the Court of Appeal was right in holding that all such defences were adequately considered before they were rejected by trial Court;
3. That if such defences were legally considered, would the trial court had (sic) arrived at an alternative verdict of manslaughter instead of murder, and whether such conviction would have been affirmed by the Court of Appeal.”

The gravamen of the appellant’s complaint in this appeal was that the lower Courts did not give adequate consideration to the defences or pleas of provocation, self-defence and accident which were raised by the appellant.

The plea of provocation was raised by the appellant in his confessional statement (Exh. ‘A’) which he made about nine days after the incident. In that statement, he said, inter alia-

“On 3/5/81 at about 6.30 p. m., I clear a portion of land which belongs to our family and Otueme say I should not burn the farm at all, that she was to clear it first. I told her she should give me N6 before I leave the land for her, she said no that she no give me the six Naira, then George Obi told me “who is me”. I said to him why should he say that type of words to me. George Obi told me that if I want to show that type of wiseness, I should go to my father’s land that me wey don sell as a slave to Rivers State, why should I talk to them. I told him how he manage know I am a slave, then I gripped him in his cloth and he twisted my left hand back and he give me a blow and said that if I talk more than that, he will give me a medicine and I will turn to tortoise. Many people started to separate us. The people who separated us are (1) one teacher Oboh, Cortina and Odoslo but I did not know their father’s name. George Obi run inside the house and carry cutlass, I then run inside house and carry dane gun, George Obi rushed to me to cut me, I ran back but no way to run so I fired George Obi on the right hand with my dane gun, all of them rushed on me and I dropped gun there and I run to the nearest police station at Akpe….”