NWANGO V. THE QUEEN

• Pages: 264-268

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NIGERIAN SUPREME COURT CASES

[1963] N.S.C.C.

"I shot the deceased because I was angry that the deceased refused to show

me where he shot my father and also to stop him from running away. I was

angry because the deceased killed my father."

Discarding the appellant's evidence that he shot Achong to stop him from run-

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ning away, or to prevent his going and killing other relatives - the former reason

was rejected by the Judge, the latter is speculative on the evidence - we have these

causes of anger:

(1)

that Achong killed his father;

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(2)

that Achong said he was not the first person to kill a man;

(3)

that Achong refused to take the appellant to where his father was.

As already stated, the learned Judge did not think that cause No. (1) was a law-

ful cause of provocation. Cause No. (2) was not dealt with in the judgment; that in

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our view is a serious omission, and we are left without the benefit of knowing how

that heartless statement might have weighed in the Judge's mind as an insult. In

addition, the manner of considering cause No. (3) was not satisfactory: the fact

that the deceased wanted first to report to the townspeople, and did later take

them to where the appellant's father was shot, does not eliminate the appellant's

anger with Achong for not taking him straight to where his father was; here again

we cannot tell what view the learned Judge would have taken if he had considered

cause No. (3) in the proper light.

There is in our opinion substance in the complaint that the trial Judge did not

appraise the facts of provocation adequately; consequently there was a substan-

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tial miscarriage of justice, and that makes it a proper case for allowing the appeal.

The conviction of murder and sentence of death are quashed and replaced by

a conviction for manslaughter and a sentence of seven years.

Appeal allowed, conviction of

manslaughter substituted.

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NWANGO V. THE QUEEN

35

IYEDE NWANGC

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APPELLANT

V

THE

QUEEN

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RESPONDENT

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SUIT No. FSC 359/1963

SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA

ADEMOLA,

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C.J.N

TAYLOR,

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J.S.C.

BAIRAMIAN,

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J.S.C.

21st November, 1963.

Criminal Law - Homicide - Provocation - Time to cool - Criminal Code, 5.283,

S.318.

ISSUE:

1. Can an accused who calculatedly stabbed another person to death claim that

he acted in the heat of passion and thus plead provocation as a defence?

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