UWAIS, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The appellant was charged in the High Court of erstwhile Bendel State sitting at Sapele with two counts of armed robbery contrary to section 1 subsection (2) (a) of the Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, No. 47 of 1970. He was convicted of both counts and was sentenced to death. The appellant brought an appeal to the court of appeal against the conviction.
The appeal was unsuccessful. He, therefore, appealed further to this court, formulating three issues for our determination, namely -
"1. Whether the appellant was denied a fair trial because of the inordinate delay in commencing the trial of his case.
2. Whether the concurrent findings of the lower courts were reasonable having regard to the evidence of identification before the (trial) court and the effluxion of time (or time-lag) between the alleged commission of the offence and the trial of the accused.
3. Whether the failure of the (trial) court to state specifically in the record…