CORAM

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PARTIES

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BLESSING OBUKE

APPELLANTS 

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THE STATE

RESPONDENTS 

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AREA(S) OF LAW

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CRIMINAL LAW, EVIDENCE, ARMED ROBBERY, CONFESSIONAL STATEMENTS, ALIBI, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

 

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SUMMARY OF FACTS

The Appellant was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery at the Ogun State High Court. On March 1, 2012, the Appellant and two others allegedly robbed Shakiru Adewale and Tunde Zacheous of phones and money at gunpoint in Ikoto, Ijebu-Ode.

The Appellant was caught by a mob after the victims raised alarm, and was rescued by police.

He made a confessional statement but later retracted it at trial. The trial court convicted him and sentenced him to death by hanging.

 

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HELD

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1. The appeal was dismissed.

2. The conviction and death sentence were affirmed.

3. The confessional statement was properly admitted and relied upon.

4. The prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

5. The belated alibi defense was rightly rejected.

 

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ISSUES

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1. Whether the trial court properly admitted and relied on the Appellant’s confessional statement despite claims it was obtained through coercion.?

2. Whether the trial court lowered the standard of proof and occasioned miscarriage of justice due to alleged contradictions in prosecution evidence.?

3. Whether the trial court erred in rejecting the Appellant’s alibi defense.?

 

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RATIONES DECIDENDI

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RETRACTED CONFESSIONS – JUDICIAL APPROACH:

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“It must be restated that the confessional statement of an accused person where same is found to be voluntary and unequivocal provides the best evidence of the person’s guilt. Resiling from the statement does not make it unreliable.”- Per Abba Aji, JSC

 

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PROOF OF CRIME – METHODS OF ESTABLISHING GUILT:

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“The law is trite, that the Prosecution can successfully establish the guilt of an accused person by means of any of three (3) ways, namely: (1) By eye witness account of the Commission of the offence. (2) By confessional statement of the accused person, adjudged voluntarily made (3) By circumstantial evidence.” – Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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ALIBI – TIMING OF RAISING DEFENSE:

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“To be entitled to the beneficent effect of the defence of alibi, an accused person must raise it at the earliest opportunity, which would, preferably, be in his extra-judicial statement. This is to offer the Police an opportunity either to confirm or confute its availability to the accused person.” – Per Nweze, JSC

 

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MINOR DISCREPANCIES – EFFECT ON PROSECUTION’S CASE:

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“Not every discrepancy in the case of the prosecution renders the case impotent… the discrepancy highlighted is not such as can destroy the case of the prosecution.”- Per Okoro, JSC

 

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TEST FOR RETRACTED CONFESSIONS:

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“Where a confessional statement is retracted, the court must test: (i) Is there anything outside the confession to show it is true? (ii) Is it corroborated? (iii) Are the statements of fact true as far as can be tested? (iv) Did accused have opportunity to commit offense? (v) Is confession possible? (vi) Is it consistent with proved facts?”- Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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BELATED ALIBI – EFFECT ON CREDIBILITY:

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“The appellant who was tried for conspiracy and armed robbery, did not raise any defence of alibi at the time of his arrest and interrogation by the police… This has rendered the purported defence of alibi a sham, unserious and afterthought.”- Per Peter Chudi Obiorah, JCA

 

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CORROBORATION OF CONFESSION:

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“The confessional statement of the Appellant had been subjected to the necessary tests… as the same were corroborated by the evidence of PW1 and PW2, who were victims of the robbery.”- Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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REASONABLE DOUBT – APPROACH TO DISCREPANCIES:

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“The law is well settled that where there is doubt in a criminal trial, such doubt is resolved in favour of the accused person… Where prosecution’s evidence is found to be contradictory on a material issue.” – Per Muntaka-Coomassie, JSC

 

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QUESTIONING BY POLICE – EFFECT ON CONFESSION:

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“It is not the rule of criminal procedure law and law of evidence that where, in the course of recording the Statement of an Accused Person, a Police Officer asks questions and records the answers by an Accused therein, the Statement automatically becomes involuntary.”- Per Trial Judge

 

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RECOGNITION AT CRIME SCENE:

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“Having been caught at the scene, or close to the scene, by neighbours and community people (that ran after the robbers) and beaten, until the Police rescued him, it shows Appellant had opportunity to commit the offence.”- Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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VOLUNTARINESS OF CONFESSION:

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“I cannot see how the beatings he had in the hands of the mob, attracted to the scene of the robbery, would be the act of the Police, who rather rescued him from being lynched.”- Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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BURDEN AND STANDARD OF PROOF:

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“Proof beyond reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond any shadow of doubt.”- Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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EVALUATION OF EVIDENCE:

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“A credible defence of alibi has to be raised, timeously, with full particulars, at the point of arrest, to enable the Police (prosecution) conduct investigation to verify the claims.”- Per Ita G. Mbaba, JCA

 

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CASES CITED

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STATUTES REFERRED TO

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1.Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R.11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,

2004

2. Evidence Act, 2011

3.Criminal Code Law of Ogun State

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