OTIGIDI ORIGBO V. THE STATE

G. S. SOWEMIMO, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The appellant was the accused in Charge No. C/34C/71. He was accused of the offence of murder of one Ogara Okoko on or about the 1st day of August, 1970. The offence was alleged to have been committed at Unakanla, Obubra. The accused was tried at the Calabar High Court, in the South Eastern State, and on the 18th of August, 1971, was convicted of the offence of murder and sentenced to death by Kooffreh, J. His appeal to this Court against his conviction was heard on the 15th of August, 1972, and was dismissed. We now give our reasons for doing so.

The material facts in this case are straight-forward. The accused was a farmer and was mainly concerned in the cultivation of yam. The deceased, Ogara Okoko, was a "native" doctor reputed for making medicine for farmers, which was alleged to have the effect of producing large yields of yams annually. The accused had been a customer of the deceased for sometime. Before the farming seas…