P. NNAEMEKA-AGU, JSC (Delivering the Leading Judgment): On the 5th day of November, 1987, this Court delivered its judgment in the appeal of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Appellants herein against the confirmation of the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu on the 17th of September, 1985, of the conviction and sentence of death passed on the three Appellants by an Uyo High Court on the 8th of February, 1986. This Court dismissed the appeal of the 1st and 2nd Appellants and allowed the appeal of the 3rd Appellant (who was the 4th accused at the court of trial) and fixed today, the 5th of February, 1988, for giving reasons for the judgment. I now give the reasons for my judgment.
The facts from which the appeal arose could be summarised briefly. On the 28th of November, 1976, the deceased, Edem Ekpenyong Asang-Usung, alias Edem Udo Usoro, met the 6th and 7th accused persons on the road in his village, in Mbisong. He held the hand of the 6th accused, Nko Jonah Udoffia, a young lady. The 6th accused g…