pro secutio n wer e abl e to pro ve attempt ed ro bbery as a person may be
conv icted of an attempt, citin g t he case of AGUGUA v STATE (201 7) 10 NWLR
part 1573 page 260 . He urges t he co urt to also loo k at th e co nduct of the
defendants, citing the case of DIBIA v STATE (2017) 12 NWLR part 15 79 page
200 .
He submits that the prosecution witnesses did not give contrad ict o ry
evidence as the event occurred in 2010 and t he wi t~es ses may not recollect
th~ facts exactly as they happ ened th e n, now . He urge s the court to hold tha t
the prosecution witnesses clearly established the identity of the defendants at
the scene from their evidenc e and t hi s w as not rebutted , counsel also goes
into the issue of proof beyond reas o nabl e doubt, citing cases ; that the
prosecution was able to make out a case beyond re asonable ·doubts and urges
the court to hold that the submissions of the defence counsel lacks merit and
order them to open the ir defenc e.
Th is is the matter befor e t he court in a nuts he 11 .
I
have to st ate the law
so as to clear up dangerous submi ssions of all counsel in this matter . The first
is that there is presumption of innocence in favour of the defendants as
enshrined in Section 36(5) of th e (on stitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria 1999 as amended . The iss ue of wh eth er th e defe ndants are guilty or
not at this stage does not arise at all and I frown at 2
nd
defendant's counsel and
the learned prosecution's counsel drawing this court into ma·king a f inding as
to the guilt or innocence of th e defendant s. These arguments are not needed
in this matter at hand . What is nee d ed here is fo r thi s court to know if there is
need or grounds for the defence to proceed , to know if the prosecu.,tion has
made out a prima facie case against the defendants only,
see Section 193 of
the ACJL 2010 see also the case of FIDELIS UBANATU v C.O .P (2000) part 643
NWLR pag e 117 rat io 1 .
T hi s is t he j udg n~e n t de li ver ed by I i-oi;_)l-l~'> l i l 't'
l ) j \ () 1l ~l' fll
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