CaseLaw
Eyorokoromo V. State (1983) CLR 3(b) (SC)
Judgement delivered on March 24th, 1983
Brief
Facts
The case was first tried in the Warri High Court. In an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal that Court ordered a retrial and that retrial was confirmed by this Court on 12th April, 1979. The present appeal therefore, is an appeal following that retrial.
It was a tragic incident. One Obiogbo had a fight with one Solmon Ebikeme as a result of which the latter died. Jibunor Anigho, the deceased in this case, was master of Obiogbo and he, Anigho, went to the police station to report the matter. An investigation party, including the only two witnesses for the prosecution in this case, set out for the scene of incident. In so far as the evidence goes against the two appellants, there are two distinct scenes to the Act in this unsavoury drama.
Evidence of Scene 1 which gave the picture of the first attack on the deceased was given by the first prosecution witness, Joslah Mokena an inspector of police. This witness, after Anigho had made a report to him of the fight between his boy John and Ebikeme, took two other police constables with him and led a party of about fifty people to Bolou-Ndoro where the corpse of Ebikeme was expected to be. On their arrival, the villagers had gathered at the waterside and the first appellant who was with the villagers said
"This is Jibunor. The deceased John is his own boy and now that Jibunor himself is here, he Jibunor should be killed."
The villagers attacked the police party at this exhortation by the first appellant despite pleas from the witness not to harm Jibunor or any other member of the party- In this attack, the second appellant attempted to strike both Jibunor and the witness with an axe, Jibunor had by this time been so beaten that he became unconscious. At a subsequent attack, the witness himself became unconscious and could not give evidence of the second scene..
The second scene was at the river bank after the villagers had beaten up Jibu¬nor. When at the river bank 1st appellant noticed Jibunor was still alive he ordered the mob to kill him. The canoe was then dragged mid stream and there the 2nd appellant and others killed Jibunor.
The learned trial Judge carefully sifted the evidence, gave detailed consider¬ation to the defence of the appellants, the issue of accomplices vel non, the ab¬sence of the corpus delicti, whether or not there was common purpose, provocation and self defence even when most of these defences were not raised either by the appellants or their learned counsel. The learned trial judge found the appellants guilty of murder, and sentenced them to death.