Photo credit;,The Sun Nigeria.
By Correspondent in Lokoja.
A High court, sitting in appellate capacity in Lokoja, Kogi State has upheld the conviction and sentence passed on a community leader in Egbe, Chief Fogbonjaiye Stephen by a Chief Magistrate’s Court,Egbe.
Our Correspondent recalls that Stephen(the accused), was arraigned before the lower Court in 2017 on alleged offences of criminal force to a woman/girl with intent to outrage her modesty, mischief and intentional insult to provoke breach of the peace, contrary to Sections 268,327 and 399 of the penal code law.
The Chief Magistrate’s Court therefore convicted and sentenced Stephen of all the charges on September 5,2018, adding that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Earlier, the First Information Report,FIR, had told the lower court that sometime in August 2917, one Funmilayo Albert was at the market,Egbe to sell cassava where she bought some snacks from another trader.
FIR added that the two parties later had issues concerning balance of money in exchange for the product she bought.
This, it also revealed, degenerated into a quarrel and the two parties went physical while the matter was reported to a woman who in turn took them before Stephen.
Narrating her ordeal before the lower court, then, Albert said it was one Iyaloja who took her and the other party to Stephen during their quarrel.
She further told the lower court that,”As we got there,the accused(Stephen) then asked me to kneel down and and put off my cloth and shoes.I complied and the items were burnt with kerosene.
“After burning the items, the accused asked Janet to follow me in the market and bit(sic) the gong after me with the ashes. After that, the accused told me to put the ashes down and he poured them into the dustbin.
“The accused then asked me to go and call my mother. When she came, the accused told her to go and bring cartoon of malt and and that if my mother fails to provide the malt,I should not come to the market any longer.
” My mother then went and begged the chiefs to beg the accused, that she cannot buy malt.”
Not satisfied with the judgment, Stephen filed an appeal at the High Court (Appellate court),with a prayer to the higher court to dismiss his conviction and sentence.
When the case came up for judgement before Justices Mohammed Etsu Umar and Justice Isa Jamil,the two judges upheld the judgment of the lower court.
The Appellate court, presided over by Justice Mohamed Etsy Umar, said that on both counts, the lower court evaluated the evidence adduced and came to the conclusion that ingredients of both offences stated had been proved.
The upper court said that Stephen never disputed that Albert was brought before him with a complaint that she fought some one in the market place.
“At his behest, he ( Stephen) ordered that Albert be stripped of blouse she had on, in full glare of the public.
“He also instructed that these and the shoes she had were confiscated and burnt. Other prosecution witnesses corroborated these pieces of evidence.
“The Appellant himself did not deny but hinged his actions on the authority he was invested on by the traditional council of Egbe town which allows punishment to be meted to those who violate the custom and tradition of the town, as Stephen in the lower court had done.
The two judges in their views said:” A custom that allows a woman to be stripped of upper dress in the market, in the name of infliction of punishment for fighting in the market as a means of social control is nothing but repugnant to natural Justice, equity and good conscience, and contrary to public policy.
“When a woman is stripped of her cloth, whether upper and lower in the market place on a market day,no one needs a prophet to tell him that the woman has been subjected to indignity and degrading treatment and her modesty outraged.
According to the two judges, while the law allows a private citizen,in a certain situations to arrest a fellow who commits an offence in his presence,”that however is where his civic responsibility ends.”
“He is there after obliged to hand over such a suspect to constituted authority (law enforcement agency) for further investigation and/or prosecution.
“Based on the finding by the lower court, that all ingredients of the offences charged have been proved which is unassailable,it our view that appellant’s purported defence hinged on customary law and tradition of Egbe community falls flat on its face like a pack of cards”, they said.
They argued that the custom which relied on by the appellant “is not only incompatible with the law in force,i.e sections 268 and 327 of the penal code law, the custom is repugnant to natural Justice ”
“We hold that ingredients of both offences charged have been proved as required and found by the trial Court.
“Decision arrived at by the lower court on the conviction and sentence on both charges cannot be assaiied
“Accordungly, the sole issue formulated in this appeal is hereby resolved against the appellant.
“This appeal fails.Same is hereby dismissed.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.