BRETT, F.J. (Delivering the Judgment of the Court):
This is an appeal against a conviction in the High Court of the Northern Region. The appellant and one Patrick Aloysius Dunn were charged jointly on one count of conspiracy and two of stealing, and there were other charges against Dunn alone. In the event they were both convicted on the count for conspiracy and on one of the counts for stealing, and Dunn was convicted on a charge of fraudulent false accounting. As the case now stands, the conviction of the appellant for conspiracy depends on the conviction for stealing, and they need not be considered separately.
At the material time the appellant was Managing Director of Abed brothers Limited, a company operating in Kano, and Dunn was Agency Manager of the Northern Assurance Company. A Mercedes Benz tanker and tank belonging to Abed Brothers were destroyed by fire while undergoing repairs in the workshop of the Steel Construction company. Abed Brothers had the tanker insured with th…