IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NIGERIA
IN THE ILORIN JUDICIAL DIVISION
ON MONDAY. THE 20TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2017
BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS:
MOJEED ADEKUNLE OWOADE -JUSTICE COURT OF APPEAL
CHIDI NWAOMA UWA -JUSTICE COURT OF APPEAL
BOLOUKUROMO MOSES UGO -JUSTICE COURT OF APPEAL
APPEAL NO: CA/IL/C.33/2017
BETWEEN:
ABDULRAHMAN ADEMOLA YUNUSA …………………….. APPELLANT
AND
THE STATE …………………………. RESPONDENT
This appeal is from the judgement of the High Court of Kwara State of 31/03/2014 in Case No. KWS/33C/2010 in which the trial Judge, Folayan J. convicted the appellant of the offences of (1) belonging to Secret Cult/Society contrary to Section 11 of the Secret Cult and Secret Societies in Higher Institutions Prohibition Law, 2004, and (2) Unlawful possession of firearm punishable under Section 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions Law). Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Appellant was sentenced to a prison term of 10 years each for other offence, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The said offences were two out of four charges for which he stood trial. The other charges against him were conspiring with one Damilare Olalere peter to commit unlawful homicide, and unlawful homicide of one Mohammed Abdullahi who the evidence revealed was his close friend. The appellant was acquitted of these two offences.
Mr. Damilare Peter, the first accused person in the charges, it is also necessary to mention, was later struck out of the proceeding upon the prosecution’s application when he jumped bail and stalled the trial for a considerable period.
The facts of the case as presented by the prosecution were that on 28/02/2010 there were series of clashes between two groups of students of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin at Alagbede village, a neighbouring community to the said Kwara State Polytechnic. The feuding groups Confraternities/cults of Aiye and Eye Cults. The clashes culminated in the killing of one Mohammed Abdullahi a friend of the appellant, for which the appellant, a student of Kwara State Polytechnic and his co-accused were also charged with conspiring to kill and killing but were acquitted.
A day earlier, on 27/02/2010, the appellant leading other students of same Kwara State Polytechnic had reported to the police an attack on them by members of another group of students. The prosecution and the appellant were in agreement that the police team that was sent to the scene actually met a serious clash between what the prosecution described as rival cult groups, prompting them (police) to fire gunshots into the air to dispense the trouble makers. Police also asked appellant to report to the police station the following day.
On the said following day being 29/02/2010, appellant and some other people whom the prosecution again described as members of his cult group reported to the police bitterly complaining that their group reported to the police station bitterly complaining that their group, including appellant, was injured by the ‘rival group’ during the previous attack. The police tried to detail some of their officers to accompany appellant back to his school, but before they could properly gather themselves for the trip appellant and his group had been another deadly attack by cult groups in appellant’s school, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, leading to the death of Mohammed Abdullahi earlier mentioned who was himself an alleged member of appellant’s Aiye Confraternity, the police returned to the scene that same day and recovered Mr. Abdullahi’s corpse. The prosecution, through one of its initial investigators of the crime, P.W. 2, Inspector Festus Ilevbare, told the court that the police immediately went to the home of the appellant but could not find him. P.W.2 said they suspected that appellant had proceeded on revenge mission over the death of his friend Abdullahi. The convicted or armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery by the Kwara State High Court in Case No. CA/IL/C.54A/2016 was dismissed in its lead judgement of 07/07/2017 delivered by Owoade JCA (PJ), with C.N Uwa and B. M. Ugo JJ.CA concurring. While I concede that that is not proof of appellant’s membership of secret cult, it undoubtedly shows him as a person with criminal inclination and one disposed to using firearms as asserted by P.W. 3. What is more, when appellant was arrested by P.W. 3 and his car searched in his very presence, an axe, a locally made pistol and live cartridge, all of which were in evidence, were recovered. Appellant tried to be clever in his defence by attributing the ownership of the pistol to his co-accused and the axe to one of his passengers, whom he claimed he did not know even the name of the said ‘strange’ passenger of his who ‘owed’ the axe and tried to dispose it off, even as he admitted that the said passenger was arrested and detained with him before his said mysterious escape from Police detention. The learned trial Judge who saw appellant testify saw through his mendacity and labelled his story a ‘concocted’ story. The pertinent question from that finding and state affairs is: What would a young man like appellant be doing driving around town with two other young men and a locally made pistol, live cartridge and an axe, all notorious weapons of Nigerian campus cults, in the boot of his car? The answer, in my opinion, points to only direction that he was indeed a cultist who was most likely arrested while either on revenge mission for the killing of his friend Abdullahi Mohammed or some other similar fiendish cult-related mission. The learned trial judge, in my opinion, cannot be faulted for reaching the same conclusion on the circumstantial evidence presented before him. In the result, I see no merit in the appeal against the conviction of appellant for membership of secret cult or society. I dismiss it.
And that takes me to the charge of unlawful possession of firearms for which appellant was also convicted. I think I have in considering his appeal against membership of secret cult sufficiently commented on the evidence, this time direct eyewitness evidence of his possession of the said gun which was recovered from his car, according to P.W. 3 who recovered it. Appellant denied it in his evidence and gave a story the trial judge who saw him and P.W.3 testify and so was in a preeminent position to judge their credibility dismissed as a made-up/concocted story after branding him as ‘not a witness of truth’. He gave reason for that position in his judgment which reason I am unable to fault. The ingredients of this offence are that the accused person was found in possession of firearms that the firearms are within the meaning of firearms as defined by the robbery and Firearms Act, and that appellant had no license to be in possession of such firearm. All these were proved. The appellant could not also produce to license entitling him to have in his possession the locally made pistol that was recovered from him. In fact he even denied, albeit unsuccessfully, it ownership. I hold that his appeal against unlawful possession of firearms is also without merit.
In the result, the appeal fails in its entirety and is hereby dismissed.
Signed:
BOLOUKUROMO MOSES UGO
Justice Court of Appeal
APPEAL NO.: CA/IL/C.33/2017
DELIVERED BY MOJEED ADEKUNLE OWOADE, JCA
I read in draft the judgement just delivered by my learned brother BOLOUKUROMO MOSES UGO, JCA.
My learned Brother has carefully dealt with the issues raised by the Appeal.
I also agree that the Appeal lacks merit and ought to be dismissed.
Signed:
MOJEED ADEKUNLE OWOADE
JUSTICE, COURT OF APPEAL
CA/IL/C.33/17
CHIDI NWAOMA UWA, JCA
I read in advance the judgement just delivered by my learned brother, BOLOUKUROMO MOSES UGO, JCA. I agree entirely with the reasoning of my learned brother and the decision that the appeal is without merit whatsoever. I also dismiss same not having faulted the decision of the trial court.
Signed:
CHID NWAOMA UWA
JUSTICE, COURT OF APPEAL.
