CaseLaw
Oladejo V. State (1987) CLR 7(d) (SC)
Judgement delivered on July 9th, 1987
Brief
Facts
The facts of the case were that Wada Shuaibu, the deceased was a student at the Kaduna Polytechnic. He came to Bichi in Kano State sometime about 17th December, 1990 on holidays. On the following day, that is 18th December, 1980, Wada left Bichi for Kano for a business and also to see some of his friends. He told his people that he would return to Bichi in the evening of that day i.e. 18th December, 1980. He drove to Kano in his Volkswagen Car Registration No. KN 323 KG. When he arrived Kano he visited different places to transact business. He also visited the place of work of the appellant herein and he was in fact found driving his car in the company of the appellant on 18th December, 1980. Nothing was heard of him again until a few day after the 18th December, 1980 when his headless corpse was removed from a well in the house of the appellant. On 19th December, 1980, as per the evidence of the prosecution at the trial, the appellant tried to sell the deceased's Volkswagen Car to two plain Clothes Policemen. In the course of investigation too, items of clothing such as a pair of brown sandal, a pair of brown shoes, a big gown and a jumper of lace material, all suspected to be personal effect of the deceased and one Mahmound Ibrahim Bichi were found in the house of the appellant. Mahmoud Bichi’s clothes found in appellant’s house were among those that Mahmoud had given to the deceased on 16th December, 1980 when he, deceased, left Kaduna for Kano. The appellant on being arrested made a statement on 28/12/86. Received in these proceedings as Exhibit B, to the Police. The appellant was arraigned before Rowland, J. who after a trial in which the prosecution called no witness found him guilty on both charges and sentenced him to the mandatory 15year imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane in respect of the 1st charge, and to death by hanging in respect of the second charge.
After reviewing the evidence, and considering the law applicable to the facts found, the learned trial Judge had concluded as follows:
“I do not believe the accused when he said in Exhibit D that he bought a Volkswagen car from two unknown persons for N800.00. He could neither produce the documents of the car nor could he even produce the Registration numbers of the vehicle. He appeared to me to a miserable liar caught in a tender hook and struggling to disentangle himself. The wave of lies he has told in Exhibit D has caught him as the engine and chassis number, of the car he said he bought from two unknown persons have been proved beyond reasonable doubt from the totality of the evidence before me that the deceased drove the said car to the house of the accused on 18/12/80, parked it in front of the house of the accused at Kurma Asabe, Kano, and the deceased slept in the same room with the accused on that fateful night. It seems to me that the confessions in Exhibit B the statement of the accused dated 27/12/80 is more consistent with the evidence of the prosecution witnesses in this case. It appeared to me as a statement emanating from a settled mind after the shock and horror of a brutal murder that has been whittled down by the efflux of time. I am satisfied that Exhibit B is a voluntary confession of the accused as it is very consistent with the evidence of the prosecution witnesses in this case”.
The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, but that Court (Wali, Akpata and Babalakin, J.J.C.A. ) on 11/6/85 substantially dismissed his appeal – the conviction and sentence on culpable homicide punishable with death were disallowed and substituted with conviction for criminal misappropriation. The appellant was sentenced to 3 year imprisonment plus a fine of N1,000 or in the alternative a further 2 year imprisonment. The Appellant then appealed to the Supreme Court.