UWA JCA (Delivering the Lead Judgment): The appellant was the first accused at the trial court who was on 28 March 2013 convicted for the offences of criminal conspiracy to commit the offence of armed robbery and armed robbery contrary to the provisions of sections 6(b) and 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The background facts are that the appellant with one Kehinde
Olasunkanmi (as 2nd accused) stood trial at the lower court. At the trial , the prosecution called five (5) witnesses while each of the accused persons gave evidence in defence. At the close of trial, the appellant and the other were found guilty of the offences charged, and convicted to death by hanging. The appellant dissatisfied with the decision of the learned trial judge, appealed to this court vide his notice of appeal containing five (5) grounds of appeal from which three (3) issues were formulated. They areas follows: “(i) Whether fro…