CaseLaw
Oladele V. State 1991 CLR 2(a) (CA)
Judgement delivered on December 7th, 1990
Brief
Facts
The appellant, though was not formally married to Michael Oladele, third P.W. but both of them lived together as husband and wife. The relationship or association can be likened to the common law marriage because the husband did not pay the requisite bride price. The living together of the couple was well known and was apparently approved by her parents and accepted by the community.
The appellant begot three children for third P.W. viz. Oluwaseun, Christiana and Tomike. The appellant who had been living with her husband was taken to her parents together with her children by her mother in-law and was abandoned there. Her earlier life was said to be characterized by moodiness and had to be placed on herbal treatment whenever her condition relapsed.
On the 2nd day of August, 1985 the appellant’s father woke up and could not find her. He shouted for her and she answered from across the road. He saw her in company of one of her children, Oluwaseun. He enquired after the remaining two children and she explained that they were somewhere far away. The appellant then took to her heels. The father raised alarm and the appellant was pursued. Arrested and brought back. Christiana thereafter was heard crying in the bush. When she was eventually seen. It was observed she was bleeding from wounds on several parts of her body. They youngest child was found stone dead with several matchet wounds on her body in the same bush. Christiana was taken to the hospital where the appellant admitted her as inpatient for three months before she recovered from the injuries sustained from matchet blows dealt on her by appellant.
The matchet or cutlass employed by the appellant to kill Tomike and inflict wounds on Christiana was identified as that of the appellant’s father and it was put in evidence as Exhibit A. The cutlass was put in evidence through appellant’s father who testified as first P.W. It was the father who gave evidence about the alleged mental condition of the appellant.
The trial court convicted the appellant and sentenced her to death under section 319 of the Criminal Code. Aggrieved, she appealed to the Court of Appeal.