Fifteen years after he was
sentenced to death by
hanging, Edet Obeten Mbang
yesterday walked home a free
man.
In a short Judgment delivered
by Justice Mahmud
Mohammed, the Supreme
Court discharged and
acquitted him of complicity in
the October 7, 1989 murder of
one Baba Okoi.
The panel agreed with the
appellant’s counsel, Adekunle
Oyesanya that Mbang was not
guilty of the offence as
charged even though he
participated in the eating of
the human meat of the
deceased.
Mbang and three others were
convicted by a Cross-River
State High Court, Ugep
Division, on June 19, 1997. The
other convicts are Obeten Leko
Essien, Mbang Efoli Mbang and
Fidelis Onen Obeten.
Murder is covered by Sections
306 to 316 of the Criminal
Code, Cap C38, Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria 2004 and
punishable under Section 319
of the Criminal Code.
The Prosecutor said Okoi was
killed on October 7, 1989 and
his “human meat” was
“butchered” and “shared” by
the appellant and his Co-
Accused persons”.
He described the appellant and
his co-accused as members of
Enyim Society, whose purpose
is to kill human beings, share
and eat their meat.
According to the prosecution,
all the accused and the
deceased attended a funeral
ceremony on the day of the
murder where the Enyim War
Dance, otherwise called “Kojo”
dance was performed.
He said the appellant
witnessed and participated in
the killing of their victim.
During the trial, the
prosecution called six
witnesses and tendered 17
exhibits. At the close of the
prosecution’s case, the
appellant made a no case
submission which was
overruled by the trial High
Court on January 15, 1997.
The appellant and his co-
accused were called upon to
open their defence but they
relied on the case of the
prosecution.
Upon hearing the Final
Addresses of counsel for the
appellant and respondent, the
trial court, in a considered
judgment delivered on June 19,
convicted them for the said
murder.
Dissatisfied, the appellant
appealed to the Court of
Appeal, Calabar in Cross-River.
Before the appeal could be
heard, the appellant’s counsel
applied to withdraw the appeal
for want of merit. Although his
application was granted, the
appeal was dismissed.
But the Supreme Court
remitted the case back to the
Court of Appeal, to be heard on
its merit.
Upon hearing the appeal on its
merit, the Appeal Court on
March 16, 2006, unanimously
dismissed the appeal and
affirmed the Judgment of the
trial court.
Unhappy with the Judgment,
the appellant returned to the
apex court through a Notice of
Appeal of June 12, 2006.
In his brief, the appellant’s
counsel, Adekunle Oyesanya
argued that Okoi died before
hic client had any contact with
his body.
He cited a confessional
statement of the appellant
where he stated that he was
invited by one of the accused;
Onowa Enang Onen to his
home that he had a meat to
share only to discover that the
meat was the body of a man
without the head.
“There is no doubt from the
foregoing that the
unambiguous evidence before
the court was that the
deceased, Baba Okoi, had
been killed before the
appellant came into the scene.
It was therefore no more
possible to kill an already dead
man. The fact of the death
shows that someone else
different from the appellant
killed the deceased. There was
no act or omission on the part
of the appellant directly
causing the death of the
deceased. There was no
evidence of any intent,
whether common or not by the
appellant to kill or to do a
grievous bodily harm or to do
an act or make an omission
likely to endanger the life of
the deceased while pursuing
an unlawful purpose”.
He cited Supreme Court
decisions in Aighoreghian &
Anor V The state (2004), JSC
(Part 1) 65 at Page 93-94;
98-99 per Niki Tobi JSC; State V
Ogbubunjo (2001) JSC (Part 1)
90 at PP 95-96 per Onu JSC;
Aigbadion v State (2000) 4SC
(part 1) at 75, Durowode v The
State (2000) 12 SC (Part 1) at
16 and Ahmed V The State
(2001) 12 SC (Part 1) 135 at
148 lines 25-40 per Kutigi JSC,
to support his argument.
“In the peculiar, though
unfortunate circumstances of
this case, the death of the
victim was not caused in any
way by the appellant and
neither was there any
evidence of a common intent
by the appellant and the other
accused to kill the victim, ,
with the intention of eating his
flesh”, Oyesanya added.

www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/mobile/news/38483-15-years-after-supreme-court-frees-cannibal.html

Wow! so cannibalism is not an offence, ppl can now freely eat human beings in Nigeria- wonders shall never end.