₦airaland Forum

Let's examine this critical point in criminal litigation through a decision of the court and learn a few new points that may help us in our daily lives.

In this case, we shall carefully examine the position of the Supreme Court in the case Bako v. Inspector General of Police.

Guess what?

This decision is freshly baked agege bread and ewa agonyi, because it was delivered in 2025, just a few months ago.

dalitigator:
Let's examine this critical point in criminal litigation through a decision of the court and learn a few new points that may help us in our daily lives.

Bring it on! Let's have the class started.

Bako v. I.G.P. (2025) is a case where the Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction and sentence of an appellant for criminal conspiracy to commit armed robbery, unlawful possession of fire arms, and armed robbery. The appellant was robbed by a gang of armed robbers in Abuja on 29th January 2017, and reported the incident to the Police.

The Police raided the gang's hideout and arrested about 10 people, including Abraham Moses, Joshua Luka, and the appellant. After due investigation, the three were arraigned before the trial court on three counts of criminal conspiracy to commit armed robbery, unlawful possession of firearms, and armed robbery. The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The trial court discharged and acquitted the first accused person, but found the second accused and the appellant guilty on the three counts, convicted, and sentenced them to imprisonment and death. The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the decision of the trial court and dismissed the appeal. Further dissatisfied, the appellant appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeal held that the appellant's extra-judicial statement to the Police was tendered without objection from his counsel, who retorted "No objection." During cross-examination, the appellant testified that he was tortured to sign it. It was clear from the evidence that the appellant failed to object to the admissibility of the extra-judicial statement at the point of tendering it in evidence before the trial court in accordance with procedural law.

This failure to greet the admissibility of the extra-judicial statement with any tinge of objection at the stage decreed by law was an egregious violence and defilement of the adjectival law on the admission of a confessional statement of an accused person.


The main gist of the Case

On 29th January 2017, Dr. Usman Mohammed and his family were robbed by a gang of armed robbers in Abuja. They reported the incident to the Police, who raided the gang's hideout and arrested about 10 people, including Abraham Moses, Joshua Luka, and the appellant. After investigation, the three were arraigned before the trial court on three counts of criminal conspiracy to commit armed robbery, unlawful possession of firearms, and armed robbery.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty. The trial court discharged and acquitted the first accused person, but found the second accused and the appellant guilty on the three counts, convicted, and sentenced them to imprisonment and death. Dissatisfied with the trial court's judgment, the appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the decision and dismissed the appeal. Further dissatisfied, the appellant appealed to the Supreme Court and the Court also dismissed the Appeal.

The case highlights the challenges faced by individuals in obtaining justice and addressing criminal activities.

But what are the main points to learn?