Usman Maigari V. The State (2010)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

MASSOUD ABDULRAHMAN OREDOLA, J.C.A. (Delivered by Leading Judgment)

The Appellant in this appeal was charged with culpable homicide punishable with death under Section 221(a) of the Penal Code. He appealed against his conviction and sentence in the judgment of Bello Abbas J, delivered on 29th June, 2007 The trial process commenced on 13th July, 2000, when the trial court granted leave to the Respondent to prefer a charge under S.221(b) of the Penal Code against the Appellant. On 22nd February, 2006, leave was similarly granted to the Respondent to amend the charge which appeared on the original charge sheet dated 3rd April, 2000 Subsequently and on the said 22nd February, 2006, the Appellant Pleaded not guilty to the amended charge which reads thus –

“That you Usman Maigari on 11th January, 1999 at your house in Yabo of Yabo Local Government Area within the Sokoto Judicial Division did commit culpable homicide punishable with death in that you caused the death of your wife Sa’adatu of Torankawa village in Yabo L.G.A. by strangulating her to death for ritual reason, conveyed her corpse and dumped it in a culvert near Janzomo village along Kajiji-Shagari road and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 221 (a) of the Penal Code.

Dated this 3rd day of April, 2000

Sgd.

Director of Public Prosecution

Ministry of Justice Sokoto.”

In its bid to prove the case against the Appellant, the Respondent called seven prosecution witnesses and tendered Exhibits C and C1 – voluntary statements of the Appellant to the police, recorded under caution dated 24th March, 1999 and 29th March, 1999 respectively. Both were tendered and admitted in evidence, without any objection on the part of the learned counsel for the Appellant. The said learned Appellant’s counsel had earlier on, before the trial court tendered Exhibits A and B, being written statement of PW1 – Sgt. Umaru Majidadi and a medical report dated 14th January, 1999 in respect of post mortem examination conducted on the corpse of an unknown female. At the close of the case for the prosecution before the trial court, the Appellant’s “no case submission” was overruled. He then gave evidence in his own defence as DW1 and closed his defence, without calling any other witness.

The case of the prosecution as disclosed by the prosecution witnesses was that one Sa’adatu Torankawa was the wife of the Appellant, who for months prevented her relations from seeing her. PW3 – Umaru S. Fawa Torankawa, the Appellant’s father in law came to Yabo in company of one Mamman Maisule. They met the Appellant who upon enquiry as to the whereabouts of Sa’adatu, told them that she escorted her mate to Sokoto. When they returned the next day the Appellant informed them that Sa’adatu, his wife was sick and he had taken her to Galmi Hospital, which is an unknown Hospital to them. Eventually, with the intervention/involvement of the Divisional Police Officer who provided vehicle, they ended up at a certain police station/ headquarters at Sokoto, where the Appellant for the first time, stated that Sa’adatu his wife was dead. Appellant volunteered two written statements under caution to the police. Both were tendered admitted and marked as Exhibits C and C1 respectively. Appellant changed and had a somewhat different versions of what actually happened to his wife and which led to her death, in each of the statements written under caution.

PW1 – Sgt. Umaru Majidadi, PW2 – Sgt. Garba Musa and PW5 – Sgt. Danladi Chigoro, all testified with regards to sequences of events which unfolded and roles which they played after receipt of reports on 11th January, 1999 and being detailed to investigate the same. Their investigation led to the discovery of the corpse of an unknown female under a culvert at Janzomo Junction along Shagari – Kajiji highway. PW5 filled the necessary Coroners form, invited the Doctor who conducted post mortem examination on the corpse of the unknown female at the spot/scene of its discovery because of the decomposed state of the corpse, which was eventually buried under the culvert where it was found. Exhibit B, the medical report stated the cause of death of the unknown female corpse, in a decayed/decomposed state, which was found under the culvert, half naked, with maggots over the body and without eyeballs, to be strangulation.

The Appellant in both Exhibits C and C1 made on 24th March, 1999 and 29th March, 1999 respectively, and in his oral testimony in defence before the trial court, admitted that one Sa’adatu Torankawa who “died seven months ago here in Sokoto” was his wife. That, they got married in July, 1997. He claimed that one night, while conveying her to the hospital and riding pillion on his motor cycle, she fell off and died. Thereafter, he ended up dumping her corpse under a culvert by the side of the main road, along Shagari – Kajiji road. Appellant added that he concealed her death from her family members, relations and his first wife who was not around when the incident which led to the death of Sa’adatu occurred. He also denied having anything to do with her death. He sought and put up the defences of accident and self defence from fear of reprisal attack from her family members. Learned counsel for the parties addressed the trial court extensively in their respective final addresses. In a considered judgment, delivered on 29th June, 2007, the learned trial judge – Bello Abbas, J., reviewed the evidence adduced and rejected the defences raised by the Appellant. He convicted the Appellant on the charge of culpable homicide punishable with death for causing the death of his wife, Sa’adatu Torankawa and sentenced him to death by hanging.

The Appellant appealed to this Court vide his notice and grounds of appeal filed on 12th September, 2007. Pursuant to the leave of this Court sought and obtained on 10th June, 2009, Appellant filed ten grounds of appeal in respect thereof. On 4th February, 2010, when the appeal came up for hearing, A. A. Owolabi Esq., learned counsel for the Appellant adopted and relied on Appellant’s brief which was filed on 23rd September, 2009. In the said brief, three issues were submitted for the determination of this appeal.

They are:-

“(1) Whether the trial court was right to have convicted the appellant for the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death without the respondent having proved the combined elements of the offence.