robbery as there was nothing placed as evidence to show that
anything was stolen from the complainant.
Defence counsel finally urge this court to discharge and
acquit the defendant of all the charges against him.
Let me start by saying that it is trite law that in criminal trials,
it is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove its case
beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant who is
charged with an allegation of committing a crime.
- Ajibade V. State (2013) 8 NCC 221.
- Smart V. State (2016) LPELR 40827.
- Akinlola V. State (2015) LPELR 25986.
The rationale behind this responsibility upon the prosecution
is derived from the constitutional provision of presumption of
innocence in favour of a defendant guaranteed by the
provisions of Section 36 (5) of the Constitutional of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, 199 as amended, and the
provision of Section 135 of the Evidence Act 2011 as
amended.
To prove their case against the defendant in respect of the
offences of Criminal Conspiracy and Robbery punishable under
Sections 60 (1) and 287 (1) of the Sokoto State Penal Code
Law 2019 with which the defendant was arraigned, the
prosecution called 4 witnesses and tendered 2 exhibits
marked as Exhibit ‘A’ and ‘A1’ which comprised of the
Hausa and English translated versions of the defendant’s
extra-judicial statement.
As to the offence of Criminal Conspiracy, it is trite law that in
a charge of Criminal Conspiracy, all that is required or
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