T. O. ELIAS, C.J.N. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): On 13th October, 1971, at the Bauchi Judicial Division, the accused was charged with culpable homicide punishable with death in that on or about 21st March, 1971, at Bauchi, he set Macindo on fire with knowledge that death would be the probable consequence of his act. The accused was convicted of the offence charged and sentenced to death under section 221 of the Penal Code.
On 26th May, 1972, during the Supreme Court session held in Kaduna, we allowed the appeal against conviction and we now give our reasons.
The facts briefly were that on a date in March 1971, the deceased was found in front of a beer shop in Bauchi, that the accused took grass from the roof of a house nearby, placed it on the deceased and then set fire to the grass by means of a burning piece of wood. Sanda Anjo, 6th p.w.,a married woman who sold local liquor at the premises, testified that, on a Sunday afternoon, she found Macindo "dead" and that, shortly af…