AJASPA BENZEGE V. THE STATE

ABUBAKAR DATTI YAHAYA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): On the 25th November 2015, the appellant was convicted of the offence of culpable homicide contrary to Section 220 of the Penal Code but punishable under Section 224 of the Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment. Being dissatisfied with the decision, the appellant appealed to this Court on six grounds of appeal.

The case of the prosecution is that the appellant and the deceased woman, were husband and wife but due to misunderstanding, the deceased packed out of the matrimonial home. In the meantime, she had kept four heaps of fire wood in the appellant's farm. She packed three heaps. When she went to pack the fourth heap, the appellant asked her not to do so. A quarrel ensued and the appellant who had a cutlass in his hands, used it to strike blows on the head of the deceased. He left her there and went home. Later, on the third day after the incident, the deceased was found dead and decomposed, at the farm of the …