Ozor Unebunso Udebunu V. The State (2016)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

HELEN MORONKEJI OGUNWUMIJU, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The Appellants was charged to Court upon information in charge No. E/5C/03 for conspiracy to commit murder and murder.

By a motion on notice dated 23/6/04 the Appellant had prayed the Court for the following orders:

a. Quashing the information containing the statement of offence and the particulars of same dated 27/2/04 filed by the Respondent against the Applicants in this matter for the reason that the proof of evidence also filed in Court in this matter against them does not disclose any facts that suggest or otherwise in any other manner whatsoever connect the applicants with the offences charged against them.

b. A further order of the Court that the charge as constituted is an abuse of the process of Court brought in bad faith and with sole intention of harassing and persecuting the Applicants, the Applicants’ counsel shall further contend at the hearing that the process of Court should not be deployed to satisfy the whims and caprices of accused persons’ detractors but must be based or predicated on hard facts contained on the face of the

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proof of evidence.

The application was moved on 13/04/06. On 6/7/06, the learned trial judge held as follows on pg. 100 of the record:

“I have carefully read the proof of evidence before the Court. There is evidence that eight of them met on the day of the incident and posted themselves out to different locations. Subsequently, the deceased was shot and killed and his corpse disposed of.

The question is whether the evidence disclosed on the face of the proofs of evidence is enough to link the accused/applicants to the offence.

My answer to this question is that the evidence has sufficiently linked the accused persons to the offence.”

Aggrieved by that decision, the Appellant has appealed to this Court vide a Notice of Appeal filed on 29/6/12 pursuant to an order granted on 28/6/12. The Appellant’s brief was filed on 10/10/12. The Respondent’s brief was filed on 18/1/16. In the Appellant’s brief settled by C. Chuma Oguejiofor, Esq., one sole issue was settled as follows:

Whether from the proof of evidence in this matter, a prima facie case has been made out as to require the appellant take his plea and stand trial

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