Olorunfunnibi Akintomide V. The State (2015)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

JAMES SHEHU ABIRIYI, J.C.A. (Delivering The Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the High Court of Ondo State sitting at Ondo delivered on the 15th May, 2012. The Appellant and two others were in that court tried for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery contrary to sections 1(2)(a) and 5(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Cap 11 Vol. 14 Laws of the FRN 2004.

The facts of the case for the Respondent at the trial included the following:

On the 6th January, 2005, at about 2:00am, one Yaya Suberu (Pw1) heard the voice of one of his boys who was sleeping in the passage that leads to pw1’s room. He asked who was in the house talking to his boy at that time of the night. While he was walking towards the boy with his torch-light, he saw somebody at the passage. The person ran down the stair-case. Pw1 shouted “thief, thief.”

Then two other people opened the door to the house – and came upstairs. The three people were masked. They threatened to shoot Pw1 and the boy with him. They demanded for money. They ransacked the whole house looking for money. They took all the money in the house and led the Pw1 to his office downstairs. They took with them two hand-sets and N150,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira). They also took jewelries worth N72,000 (Seventy-Two Thousand Naira).

The people came with an axe, knife and a torch-light.

When the Pw1 reported the incident to the police, he told them that he did not identify the people because they were masked and he did not suspect anybody.

According to Pw2, P. C. Ganiyu Tunde, on the 13th of January, 2005 information came to the police that “a gang of boys that robbed Pw1 was in town.” A team of policemen went to Odo Ile Street, Ile-Oluji where they arrested the Appellant and others.

Although the Respondent tendered an extra judicial statement in which the Appellant purportedly claimed that they had had a couple of other exploits apart from going to the house of the Pw1 on 6/1/05 at 200 am from where they made away with N85,000 and two Nokia handsets; his defence in Court was a complete denial of offence.

In his defence in Court he denied robbing the Pw1. He was arrested in his house at No 10 Oke Otunba Street, Ile-Oluji on 13th January, 2005. The police told him that the Pw1 said he suspected him as one of the robbers because he once worked with the Pw1. At the time he was arrested the police did not conduct any search in his house. After the arrest, he was taken to SARS (Special Anti – Robbery Squad).

It was just once he made a statement at SARS. That was on 14th January, 2005. He made a statement to police at Ile – Oluji Police Station.

After hearing evidence and addresses of learned counsel for the parties, the Appellant and two others were found guilty of armed robbery, convicted and sentenced to death.

The Appellant filed a notice of appeal on 14th June, 2012 containing the omnibus ground. By order of this Court the Notice of Appeal was amended. The Amended Notice of Appeal filed on 18/3/14 contains three grounds of appeal from which the Appellant presented the following issues for determination:

1. Whether the learned trial Judge was right in convicting the Appellant Olorunfunnibi Akintomide, having regards to his retracted confessional statement Exhibit M and the surrounding corroborating evidence.
2. Whether from the totality of the evidence before the trial court, the prosecution was able to prove the charge of armed robbery against the Appellant beyond reasonable doubt contrary to section 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The Respondent adopted the two issues formulated by the Appellant.