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STEPHEN
V.
THE STATE

(2008) JELR 46835 (CA)

Court of Appeal 10 Dec 2008 Nigeria
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- The appellant was charged with unlawful possession of firearms. - The trial court found the appellant guilty and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. - The appellant filed an appeal, raising two issues for determination. - The first is

Case Details

Suit Number:CA/C/117/2007
Judges:KUMAI BAYANG AKAAHS Justice of The Court of Appeal of Nigeria JEAN OMOKRI Justice of The Court of Appeal of Nigeria THERESA NGOLIKA ORJI-ABADUA Justice of The Court of Appeal of Nigeria
Counsel:Nta A. Nta, Esq. For Appellant F. L. Ititim Esq. For Respondent

THERESA NGOLIKA ORJI-ABADUA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The charge preferred against the Appellant at the trial Court was thus:

"unlawful possession of firearms contrary to section 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Cap. R.11 Vol.14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004".

The particulars of the offence read that the Appellant, Ekanem Joseph Stephen, was found to be in possession of a locally made revolver pistol without a licence or permit along Goldie Street, Calabar on the 10th July, 2005. He was arraigned on the 31st March, 2006 and trial commenced immediately. At the trial, the prosecution called two witnesses while defence presented only one witness. At the conclusion of the trial, and, in finding the Appellant guilty, the learned trial Judge held at pages 85 and 86 thus:

"Since I had earlier held that I will not consider Exhibit "C" as a confessional statement, it would no more be material whether or not it was confirmed before a SUPOL.

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