The State Vs James Gwangwan (2015)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

JOHN INYANG OKORO, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, sitting at Ilorin delivered on 25th January, 2011 wherein it set aside the judgment of the High Court of Kwara State, Ilorin which had earlier convicted and sentenced the appellant to 14 years imprisonment on a charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery contrary to Section 6 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act 2004. The Court of Appeal entered a verdict of discharge and acquittal for the respondent. A synopsis of the facts will suffice.

On 4th July, 2006, while PW5, one Abioye Moses was on duty at the Police Station, Ajasaipo, a team of police officers led by one Cpl. Inusa Ibrahim arrested and brought to the station, one Joshua John together with one cartridge where he (Joshua) confessed that he belonged to a six-man gang of armed robbers whose names he mentioned, including the respondent herein. All the named persons except one were arrested and, according to PW5, they all confessed to participating in robbery activities in Offa and its environs. After investigation, four of the six accused persons were charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery contrary to Section 6(b) and 1(2) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Cap. R11 Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004 respectively. However, the charges against the 4th and 6th accused persons before the trial court were dropped upon the application of the prosecution on the grounds that the 1st accused, one Joshua John who was granted bail by the police, jumped bail and that the 6th accused, one Shina, had been at large and was never apprehended. Consequently, it was the respondent alongside three other accused persons that stood trial for the offences charged.

During the trial, the prosecution in proof of its case against the respondent and other accused persons, called five witnesses and tendered one locally made gun and two life cartridges. The prosecution also tendered in evidence what it termed the confessional statements of the accused persons.

The respondent and others standing trial with him objected to the admissibility of the said statements on the ground of involuntariness which led the trial court to order a trial within trial to determine its admissibility.

However, midway into the trial within trial, it was aborted by the learned trial judge on the ground that the respondent’s and other accused persons’ evidence amounted to a retraction rather than a challenge to its voluntariness. He proceeded to admit the statements into evidence.

In his judgment the learned trial judge convicted the respondent along with others for the Offence of Criminal Conspiracy to commit Armed Robbery contrary to Section 6 of the Robbery and Firearms Act (supra). He sentenced the respondent and others to 14 years imprisonment each. The trial court discharged and acquitted them on other counts.

Dissatisfied, the respondent appealed to the Court of Appeal which found for the respondent herein, set aside the decision of the learned trial judge and entered a verdict of discharge and acquittal for the respondent.

Also, not being satisfied with the stance of the Lower Court, the appellant has appealed to this court. Notice of appeal was filed on 25th February, 2011 with four grounds of appeal contained therein. Out of the four grounds of appeal, the appellant has distilled two issues for the determination of this appeal.

In the brief settled by Kamaldeen Ajibade, Esq, Hon. Attorney General of Kwara state, for the appellant, which was adopted at the hearing of this appeal, two issues have been distilled for the determination of this appeal. The issues are as follows:

1. Whether the Lower Court was right to have held that the prosecution did not sustain the charge of conspiracy against the respondent before the trial court.
2. Whether the Court of Appeal was right to have concluded that the prosecution did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against the respondent.

Also, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, Esq., Counsel for the respondent in his brief filed on 13/5/2013 and adopted at the hearing of this appeal, had adopted the two issues exactly as formulated by the appellant. There is therefore no need to reproduce the issues again.

In arguing this appeal, the learned counsel for the appellant sought leave to argue the two issues together. He submitted that in order for the prosecution to succeed whenever the commission of a crime is in issue against an accused person, he must establish its case beyond reasonable doubt, relying on the cases of Miller V. Minister of Pension (1947) 2 All ER 371 at 373, Lori V. The State (1980) 8 – 11 SC.81 and Akalezi v. The State (1993) 2 NWLR (Pt.273) 1.

Learned counsel submitted that the conclusion of the court below which set aside the judgment of the trial court is not in tandem with the law on the issue. He contended that the pieces of evidence in the confessional statement of the respondent, when juxtaposed with the confession of the other accused persons in Exhibits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10, establish beyond reasonable doubt an inference of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. It is his view that from these exhibits, there was clear evidence of agreement or confederacy among the accused persons including the respondent to strike their deadly act along Offa-Ajase-Ipo highway.

It was further argued that by all known settled principle of law, Exhibit 8 is a confessional statement which was enough to sustain the Offence of Conspiracy against the appellant and that the learned trial judge was right to have convicted the respondent in the circumstances. He opined that a court of law can infer conspiracy from the criminal acts of the parties including evidence of complicity, citing the cases of Iwuneve v. The state (2000) 5 NWLR (Pt.658) 550 at 560 and Osondu V. FRN (2000) 12 NWLR (Pt. 682) 483 at 501.