The rationale behind this duty upon the prosecution is
derivable from the Constitutional provision of presumption of
innocence in favour of a Defendant guaranteed by Section
36(5) CFRN 1999 as amended and the provision of Section
135 of the Evidence Act 2011 which provides that whoever
assert a particular fact, has a duty to prove it.
To prove its case, the prosecution called four (4) witnesses and
tendered twenty (20) exhibits marked as Exhibits A, A1, B,
C1 – 13 and D1 – 4 respectively.
Exhibits ‘A’ and ‘A1’ are the Hausa and English translated
versions of the Defendant’s statement made on 21/2/2019.
Exhibit ‘B’ is a locally made revolver pistol.
Exhibits ‘C1 – 13’ are thirteen (13) line ammunitions.
Exhibits ‘D1 – 4’ are four (4) empty shells of AK47.
As submitted rightly by both counsel, to secure a conviction
for the offence of Armed Robbery, the prosecution must prove
the following elements:a) that there was an armed robbery;
b) that the Defendant or one of the Defendants was armed
with a firearm or offensive weapon; and
c) that the Defendant participated in the robbery.
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Egbufor V. State (2019) 15 WRN 60 at 73-74.
Onyeyemi V. State (2019) 34 WRN 75 at 90-91.
Sakiru V. State (2019) 29 WRN 109.
John V. State (2019) 37 WRN 143.
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