BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS
UWANI MUSA ABBA AJI.
CHIDIEBERE NWAOMA UWA.
STEPHEN JONAH ADAH.
ABUBAKAR SADIQ UMAR.
MOHAMMED BABA IDRIS.
JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
BATURE HASSAN. APPELLANT
AND
THE STATE. RESPONDENT
JUDGEMENT DELIVERED BY ABUBAKAR SADIQ UMAR , JSC
I have read in advance the judgement of my learned brother, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, JSC, just delivered. I agree with the reasoning and conclusion that the appeal is without merit.
On the 2nd day of July 2016 at about 2:00 am, the Appellant and 2 others went to the house of Mai Ungwa Idi ( the deceased) with his wife at Gidan Maza village in Garki LGA of Jigawa State and broke into her room while armed with guns, clubs and machetes. They beat them and she sustained an injury as a result. They brought out a lighter and nylon, lit the nylon as it was dropping fireballs and put it on the back of the deceased, burning him in the process. After torturing the deceased, they robbed them of their cell phones and carted away the deceased’s motorcycle. She and the deceased were hospitalized at Gumel General Hospital and later referred to Aminu KANO Teaching Hospital where the deceased died same day. He was later buried at Fagen Gawo his hometown.
PW2 (Dayyabu Habu Danzomo) testified that he knew the 1st accused, the 3rd accused as well as the Appellant. That on the 2nd day of July 2016 at about 3:30 am, the Bulama of Fagen Gawo called him on the phone and informed him that one Namalamawa (the deceased) was robbed and that the robbers were on their way to escape between Fagen Gawo and Danzomo. He requested help in order to get the robbers apprehended. The PW2 mobilized two vehicles and pursued the robbers. As the robbers sighted them, they diverted following another route. The robbers were three in number on one bike. They continued to pursue them. As they reached one village, they met one person coming out of the mosque and asked him whether he saw some people on a motorbike. He told them that he saw Hardo Shua’ibu, the 1st accused with two other people. He also pointed out the tire print of their motorbike and showed them the route the accused persons followed. They also followed that same way and saw the accused persons entering into a thick bush near Gayaya where their motor vehicle could not gain entrance. They therefore returned to the house of the 1st accused person where they left their people and saw the deceased’s motorcycle at the back of the 1st accused person’s house near a cattle route. At that point, policemen came and arrested them including the Appellant with the motorcycle. The conviction and sentence of the Appellant was affirmed by the lower Court, hence this appeal.
In proving the offence of armed robbery, the Prosecution has a bounden duty to prove beyond reasonable doubt that: a. That there was a robbery; b. That the robbers were armed with offensive weapons as at the time of the robbery; and c. That the accused person participated in the robbery. See Per PETER-ODILI, JSC, in MINDI V. STATE (2020) LPELR-52897 (SC) (PP. 44-45 PARAS. D-D).
While the 2 ingredients were not contested, the 3rd ingredient has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the Appellant was among the armed gang that participated in the offences charged and for which he was convicted and sentenced.
Accordingly, the appeal fails and is hereby dismissed.
UWANI MUSA ABBA AJI
JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
APPEARANCES:
A.S GADANYA, ESQ, FOR THE APPELLANT.
MUNEER MUSDAPHA, ESQ, FOR THE RESPONDENT.
