IN THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE
IN THE IKEJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT IKEJA
BETWEEN SUIT NO ID/148C/2009
People of Lagos State
AND
Kehinde Folami …………. Defendant
JUDGMENT
The Defendant was arraigned before this Court on the 10th of May 2010 on a single count charge of murder contrary to the provisions of section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State. The Defendant was alleged to have murdered one Wasiu Afolabi on the 24th of May, 2008 at No 18, Oshewa Street Lagos State
The deceased was a six year old boy and the first prosecution witness was Mrs. Ganiyat Afolabi, the mother of the deceased, and she testified that the Defendant was a next door neighbor and that the house of the Defendant was separated from their house only by a wall fence and that the Defendant managed a shop built by the wall fence and within the Defendant's compound and that the Defendant sold different types of provisions including candles in the shop and also operated a pepper grinding machine in the shop. She said that on Saturday, the 23rd of May, 2008, she grinded some pepper in the shop of die Defendant and which she used to make vegetable soup and that she and the deceased ate out of the food around 6.30pm and that she thereafter sent the deceased to die shop of die Defendant to collect candles because it was getting dark and there was power outage and that at the gate of their house, the deceased turned back to inform her that his father had returned and that she sent him back to collect the candles from die Defendant's shop. She testified that after some time, the deceased came back to say that the Defendant requested him to bring some of the vegetable soup for her and that sent him back to tell the Defendant that the vegetable soup was not much and to collect the candles and the deceased left to go back to the shop of the Defendant. She stated that the father of the deceased came into house and the time then was around 7pm and he put on the generator and she served his food and she informed him that she sent the deceased to die shop of the Defendant to collect candles.
The first prosecution witness testified that after about thirty minutes, the deceased had not and she set out to look for him and that she went into the compound of the Defendant and that by this time the Defendant had locked up the shop and the compound dark because of the power outage and that she called out the name of the deceased but he did not answer and that she went into the residential apartment of the Defendant in the compound and she kept calling out the name of the deceased but no answer and she did not see anyone in the apartment and on her way out of the apartment she saw the daughter of the Defendant in the compound and she inquired if she had seen the deceased and the daughter answered in the negative. She stated that she went her own compound and she knocked on the doors of their tenants to look for the deceased and all the tenants said they had not seen him and that everyone Joined her in the search for the deceased and they went back into the compound of the Defendant and searched everywhere and from there they went into the streets and many other people joined the search, including the Defendant, and the search went on till late into the night but did not find the deceased that day. She said the continued in the morning of the next day and many people engaged in prayers, both Christian and Muslims, and including the Defendant, but the deceased was still not found and that she remained in her house after the prayers with people counseling her on patience.
The first prosecution witness testified that around 2pm she heard a lot of commotion outside her house and that when she made to go out to see what was happening, the people with her prevented her from going and that her mother came in shortly thereafter she was still prevented from going outside. She stated that she learnt that the dead body of the deceased was found in a Maltina cooler around 2pm on that 24th of May, 2008 and that she neither saw the cooler or the dead body of the deceased, the police asked for her and she was allowed to go out. She said that it was on the television program that she saw the cooler that the husband of the Defendant was not around when they began the search for the deceased on Saturday the 23rd of May, 2008 but he returned and met them during the search and the husband was at home the next day when the corpse of the deceased was found. She stated that she had entered the compound of the several times and the shop of the Defendant was by the gate and next to the shop was a store which did not open to the outside and this was followed by another shop and that the deceased usually went into the compound and the apartment of the Defendant to play. She said that when she enquiries from her husband on what happened, he informed her that the corpse of the deceased was found in the store of the Defendant and that the body was moved from there by the police to the General Hospital
Under cross-examination, the first prosecution witness stated that she volunteered her statement at the Police Station in Yoruba and that it was interpreted into English by the police who recorded the statement and she reiterated that on the 23rd of May, 2008 she sent the deceased to the shop of the Defendant to buy candles and she told her husband when he inquired after the deceased that she sent the deceased to buy candles from the Defendant and she said that it was correct that her husband was outside checking the street light after his return from work on the day. She started that she was in the kitchen when she sent the deceased to buy the candles and it was correct that she could not sec into the compound of the Defendant from her kitchen to know who was there that she did not sec the deceased when he entered into the compound of the Defendant but that was the only place he could have gone. She testified that it was correct that the Defendant's compound had a large space where small children including the deceased usually played and that this place was a bit far from the apartment of the Defendant in the compound and that she had been into the compound of the Defendant on a number of occasions. She stated that the used to go and play in the compound of the Defendant and that the deceased son usually came back home by himself playing in the compound of the Defendant and that it was incorrect that the deceased used to go and play elsewhere apart from the compound of the Defendant.
The first prosecution witness confirmed that she made a statement at the Police Station and that it was recorded by one of the policemen and that it was read over to her and she confirm it to represent what she said before it was signed by the policeman but that she did not sign the statement and what she told the police in her statement was that when the deceased could not be found she went to search for him around the area and not that she went to search for him in other places that he used to play. She stated that the shop of the Defendant was built against the wall fence and the store where the body of die deceased was found was next to the shop of the Defendant and there was another shop after the store and dint she was not aware if the store was usually unlocked and she said that the shops and store were far from the apartment of the Defendant and someone in the apartment would not know what was going on in the shops because of the distance. She testified that her family and the family of the Defendant were good neighbours and friends and that it was the husband of the Defendant that ferried the deceased to school and that it was correct that the Defendant was part of the search party looking for the deceased and that it was incorrect that the gate into the compound of the Defendant was always opened and that the gate was always closed. She stated that the shop of the Defendant faced the front of her compound and that one does not need to enter the compound to buy something from the shop and it is when there is no one in the shop that one would knock the gate for them to come out.
The first prosecution witness stated that it was correct that when they were searching for die deceased the Defendant said that she had sent him home immediately after buying the candles and that she saw him enter into our compound and that it was also correct that the husband of the Defendant gave his car to the search party to take the photograph of the deceased to the television station the following day. She said that her husband was a driver and that when he returned from work on the 23rd of May, 2008 die deceased came to inform her that his father was back and was repairing a light fitting in front of the house and that she did not know if her husband had had cause in the past to enter into the store of the Defendant where the body was found to assist the Defendant in repairing her pepper grinding machine. She stated that she heard that it was the Defendant that went to call people when she discovered the body of the deceased in her store and that the tenants of the Defendant were not home when she commenced the search for the deceased as they had left home since morning and they came back to meet them searching for him. She said that it was correct that the deceased was a very active child and would raise an alarm if he sighted danger but that she could not have heard him from her kitchen in her house if he had shouted that day because her kitchen was far from the compound of the Defendant and that she had never entered the store of the Defendant where the body of the deceased found. The statement made by the witness to the Police was tendered through her as Exhibit Dl.
The second prosecution witness was Mr. Ahmed Afolabi, the father of the deceased, and he testified that he was a driver and that he returned home on the 24th of May, 2008 around 6.30pm and noticed that somebody he had earlier engaged to fix the street light in front of his house did not do it properly and he went into the house to get an instrument to adjust it and that, he finished around 7pm. He said that he asked the where about of the deceased from the first prosecution witness and she said that she sent him to buy candles from the shop of the Defendant and that it was dark around this time and that when they did not see the deceased return they started searching for him: and that she saw die Defendant in front of her shop and that the Defendant said that the deceased had since left her shop. He said dial the deceased did not go anywhere else to play except the compound of the Defendant and that he recalled that when he was repairing the street light he saw die deceased pass to go into the compound of die Defendant and that many people joined them in searching for die deceased. He stated that he ate eba and vegetable soup when he returned from work on that day and dial die Defendant had a shop in front of her compound where she sold different provisions including candles, matches, soap and soft drinks and she also operated a pepper grinding machine in the shop and that his family and the family of the Defendant had a very good relationship. He stated that on the 24th of May, 2008 they searched for the deceased everywhere in Ills compound and in the compound of the Defendant but not in die shops and store and that they searched for him till morning and that on die next day he went to the television to make an announcement of the missing child and that the husband of the Defendant gave them his car to go to the television station.
The second prosecution witness testified that when he came back from the television station around 1pm, he dropped the car of die Defendant's husband and the deceased was yet to be found and he decided to leave for Ikirun to seek spiritual help and it was at lbadan, on his way to Ikirun, that he received a telephone call from one of his friends that the body of the deceased had been found and that he returned home immediately and met many people in their area including the Police and he was led into die store of the Defendant where they said the corpse was found and he saw the dead body of the deceased in a cooler. He said that he had been into the compound of the Defendant on a number of occasions before the incident but he had never been into the store of the Defendant and that the store was in between two shops and that while the doors of the shops face out to the compound, the door of the store does not open out to the compound and that the store had an iron door and a four step stairs led to the iron door. He stated that he entered the store of the Defendant on the 25th of May, 2008 to view where the deceased was found and he noticed a big freezer, some air conditioners, pumping machine, cartoons and a big cooler inside the store and he saw the deceased in a small Hi-Malt cooler in the store; the cooler was tendered and admitted as Exhibit P1. He stated that the deceased was two days short of his sixth birthday and slender and that he met policemen from Owutu Police Station when he returned from Ibadan on the 25th of May, 2008 but that he did not see the Defendant and he was informed that the Defendant and her children had been taken away from the scene and that later in the night of that day, policemen came from State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti to investigate the matter and they looked around the area, at the store and did some forensics and the body of the deceased was taken to the General Hospital for autopsy and that it was thereafter mat the body was released to them for burial.
The second prosecution witness gave evidence that he had been married to the first prosecution witness since year 2000 and that they had lived together since then and that they loved themselves and had an extremely good and cordial relationship and had been blessed by God and mat the deceased was the only child they had. He stated that the Defendant had only one tenant in her compound and that me tenant was not home when they commenced searching for the deceased on the 24th of May, 2008 but that the children of the tenant were m and that the doors of the tenant's apartment were opened and that the tenant arrived to meet them in the middle of the search. He said that he made statements both at Owutu Police Station and at the Panti Police Station and that he volunteered his statement in Yoruba but it was recorded in English by one Inspector Segun Adesola and that the first prosecution witness was a peaceful person and they had no quarrel with anyone in the area.
Under cross-examination, the second prosecution witness stated that it was Oshogbo he left for on the 25th of May, 2008 and not Ikirun and that he left around after 1pm and that he got back to Ikorodu around 5.30pm after receiving the telephone call find that on the 24th of May, 2008, he returned home from work around 5.30pm and that he spent around thirty minutes to fix the street light in front of his house and it was not dark at this time and that it was incorrect that he switched on the generator immediately after fixing the street light: and that he did not recall switching the generator on at all that day. He stated mat the compound of the Defendant had space where the children of the Defendant played basketball and that it was incorrect that children in the neighbourhood joined in playing the basketball but he cannot say how often the children played basketball. He said that he had never entered into the store of the Defendant to effect repairs on her grinding machine and that the Defendant had only call him once to assist in changing me fan-belt of the grinding machine and that he did this outside where the machine was used to grind pepper. He stated that he did not say in his statement to the Police that he put on the generator on that day and the statement was tendered through him and it was admitted as Exhibit D2. He stated that they did not report to the Police on the 24th of May, 2008 when the deceased went missing and neither did he go to the Police on the 25th of May, 2008 and that he went to television station to make an announcement on the 25th of May, 2008.
The witness stated that he ate around 7pm on the 24th of May, 2008 and that it was dark at that time and that he switched on the generator before he ate and that he asked for the deceased and that the first prosecution witness told him she sent the boy to buy candles from the shop of the Defendant and that he saw the deceased pass while he was fixing the street light but could not say if the first prosecution witness saw the deceased thereafter. He stated that he had a very cordial relationship with the family of the Defendant and could not say why the Defendant would kill the deceased but that the corpse of the deceased was found in the store of the Defendant and that it was incorrect that the deceased had spent his holidays with the family of the Defendant and that it was only during one Eid celebration that the deceased went with the family of the Defendant to Ojota and he returned the following day. He said that it was around 12 midnight on the 25th of May, 2008 that the Police came and moved the body of the deceased and the cooler and that it was incorrect that all the customers of the Defendant and her tenant had access to the shop of the Defendant as they all stop at the gate of the shop and that he had entered the shop of the Defendant prior to the incident to buy something. He said that die cooler wherein the deceased was found was not in the shop of the Defendant but in the store behind the shop and he reiterated what he saw in the store on the 25th of May, 2008 when he entered to sec the dead body of the deceased and he stated that he did not assist the Defendant in repairing their pumping machine but he only introduced the person who repaired his own pumping machine to the Defendant and that he did not know the other persons who had access to the store of the Defendant.
The third prosecution witness was a Mrs. Funmilayo Mapaderun and she stated that she was the tenant in the compound of the Defendant at the times material to this case and that on the 24th of
May, 2008 she left the house around 11.30am to attend a function in Mushin
The witness stated that compound of the Defendant consisted of one shop and two stores on one side and two flats on the other side and that her family lived in the back flat and the Defendant used the shop and that her family was the only tenant in the compound and that her husband had travelled to Oshogbo in the early hours of die 24th of May, 2.008 and that her family moved out of the compound when the incident of the death of the deceased happened. She testified that her children used to play in the compound and they knew the deceased very well as they played together in the compound and her children informed her that on the 24th of May, 2008, they all played together with the deceased until evening when they left for her shop. She stated that they never had any incidence of house breaking throughout their stay in the compound of the Defendant and that the compound had a gate which was always shut and that the Defendant sold provisions and soft drinks as well as ground pepper in the shop and she could not say if the Defendant sold candles as she had no reason to buy candles from the Defendant. She said that neither herself nor the Defendant had a house maid at the time of the incident and that the store was beside the shop and they were built together.
Under cross-examination, the third prosecution witness testified that she was not around when the whole incident leading up to the search for the deceased happened and she only returned to meet the search and that her family was a tenant of the Defendant for four years and that it was not only her family and the family of the Defendant that had right of ingress into the compound as they had people who visited. She stated that the door of the store where the deceased was found was always shut but she could not say if it was locked with a key and that there was no padlock on the door and mat she was not always at home when her children played with the deceased as she usually went to her shop and it was only on Sundays that she was at home. She stated that when she returned on the day of the incident she met people outside the compound and not within it and that she searched for the deceased within her flat and that it was possible that the people had searched the compound before she returned. She said that when she saw the dead body of the deceased there was something like foam and regurgitated food coming out of his mouth and it looked like vegetable soup and that she saw the cooler and die body outside and she did not know who brought the cooler out of the store. She said that she recalled that she had occasions to buy candles from the Defendant a long time ago before they bought a generator and that the first prosecution witness and the Defendant were close and were good friends and they related well and entered into each other's houses freely and they played together and she could not recall that there was any quarrel between them. She stated that the deceased was usually in their compound to play with her children and with the four children of the Defendant and that the husband of the Defendant ferried all the children, including the deceased, to school in his car.
Under re-examination, the witness stated that the gate of the compound was usually just shut whenever the Defendant was in her shop and visitors who came to the compound just push the gate open to gain access, but if the Defendant was not in the shop, the Defendant used a metal to lock the gate and visitors then had to knock for somebody to open the gate. She stated that the shop of the Defendant was by the gate and she saw everybody coming into the house and that she never entered the store and cannot say if it had a lock or not but the door of the store was visible on tier way in and out of the compound and she never saw a padlock on it and she did not recall seeing her children going into the store to play.
The fourth prosecution witness was a Mr. Ajayt Kamoru Olabanji and he stated that he knew the Defendant and that they lived on the same street in Ikorodu and that on the 24th of May, 2008 a neighbor informed him around 11pm that the deceased was missing and was being searched for and that he went to the house of the second prosecution witness where he met many people and he joined in the search. He stated that the search continued as early as 6am the following day and that they searched everywhere and that while die search was going on, he went back home to get an equipment to assist the Baale of the area fix a fault in his pumping machine and that the Defendant came to meet him at home in the company other last child and she was holding a keg of petrol and me Defendant stated that she had something to discuss with him. He said. That the Defendant informed him that when she left the search party for the deceased and went back to her house, she went to her store to keep the keg of petrol she was caring in her hand and that as she opened she had in the store she found the deceased in the cooler. He stated that the husband of the Defendant had gone out by this time and the husband had informed him that he would be back around 4pm and that he immediately called the husband of the Defendant to relate what the Defendant had just told him and that the Defendant spoke to her husband and related the same story to him and that husband stated that he was in Victoria Island at the time and pleaded with him to go and see if the deceased was still alive and to get the deceased to a hospital tor treatment and he should not spare any expense in getting the deceased treated. He testified that he left for the house of the Baale inform him of the development, and that they convened a meeting of the elders of the area to discuss the matter and the Defendant came to the meeting and related the story to the elder, and the elders called the youths in the area to go to the store in the compound of the Defendant to confirm the story of the Defendant and the Defendant was directed to stay in house of the elder where the meeting was held. He stated that policemen later came to scene and that he with the policemen to the house of the Defendant and they met the youths there threatening to burn down the house of the Defendant but that lie cautioned them against it and that he saw the body of the deceased in a cooler and he was dead at the time and that the cooler was in the store at the time, be saw it. He identified Exhibit PI as the cooler.
Under cross-examination, the witness stated that his house was not far from the house of the Defendant and that he had been living in the area since 1996, long before the Defendant and her family moved to the area and that the Defendant came to relate her discovery to him on me 25th of May 2008 for advice as he was an elder in the area. He stated that on the day they were searching for the deceased nobody stated that the deceased was last seen with the Defendant and that he knew the families of the Defendant and of the deceased very well and had been to their respective houses on a number of occasions and that both their houses had gates and that the Defendant had no gateman in her house and that there was no organised security in the area at the time. He stated that he had enter the house of the Defendant at the request of her husband to assist in the repair of electrical faults and with NEPA and that the family of the deceased and of the Defendant were very cordial and that the deceased was always in the compound of the Defendant and that the husband of the Defendant conveyed his children, the deceased and the children of the tenant to school He stated that he never heard of any disagreement between the two families and that the Defendant was badly shaken and was beside herself with fear and panic when she came to re.ate her findings to him on the 25th of May, 2008 and that when he saw the deceased in the cooler there was foam on his mouth and some stains on his chest.
The fifth prosecution witness was Police Sergeant Oluwasegun Idowu Adesola who stated that he was attached to the State Crime Investigation Department at the times material to this matter and he testified that on the 24th of May, 2008, a case of murder was reported at the Owutu police station and was transferred to the State Crime Investigation Department, Panti on the same day and he was designated at the Investigating Police Officer. He stated that on going through the case file, he noticed that statements had already been obtained from some people and he took fresh statements from the people and he visited the scene of the crime in the company of the Office in Charge of Homicide, Chief Superintendent of Police Ebere and photographs were taken at the scene of the crime and they recovered a Maldina cooler as an exhibit and these were brought back to their office at Panti and registered as exhibits. He stated that the Defendant and the complainants were taken before die Officer in Charge of finger prints at Panti to have their finger prints taken and witnesses were invited, including one of die ciders in die community, and they all made statements and coroner forms were served on the Radiologists and an autopsy was performed on body of die deceased by the Chief Pathologist of Lagos State and die reports of the finger prints and of the autopsy were put in the case file. He testified that he took the Defendant and the complainants to the Deputy Commissioner of police at the State Crime Investigation Department for a personal interview and the Defendant was thereafter charged to court.
The witness testified that they recovered the body of the deceased at the scene of the crime and that he noticed that there were two houses side by side separated by a wall fence and that the house of the Defendant was one of the houses and he also notice that there was a shop within the compound of the Defendant at the front and a store beside the shop and the Defendant took the Police to the store where the cooler was found the witness identified Exhibit P1 as the cooler. He stated that when the cooler was opened they saw die dead body of deceased, a small boy about six years old, and they recovered the body and cooler from die scene of die crime and body of the deceased was taken to the mortuary of the General Hospital in Ikorodu and he said that he recorded two statements from the Defendant and these were tendered and admitted as Exhibits P3 and P4. The witness also tendered die photographs taken at the scene of the crime and the negatives as well as the autopsy report from the General Hospital
Under cross examination, die witness slated that they visited the scene of the crime the same day the case was transferred from Owutu Police Station to the State Crime Investigation Department but he could not remember the date exactly and dint one Inspector Sanni, now a senior police officer, went with them to the crime scene. He said that it was on the same day that the first prosecution witness and the Defendant were brought to the State Crime Investigation department
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