Court acquits couple, neighbour of manslaughter

An Ikeja High Court, on Tuesday, acquitted a couple, John Idoko and Mary Adakole, and their neighbour, Obinna Eze, of the manslaughter of a 32-year-old man, Godspower Smart.
Justice Raliatu Adebiyi discharged and acquitted the defendants who are all residents of Ikota Housing Estate, because there was no direct evidence linking the trio to the commission of the crime.
The Judge noted that the medical evidence provided by the prosecution was not strong enough to link the defendants to the alleged crime.
The judge also noted that a witness, Dr Sunday Shoyemi, did not give an indepth analysis of his conclusion that Smart passed away from asphyxia.
“None of the defendants confessed to killing the deceased so the evidence before the court is circumstantial.
“PW2 and PW3 who are the police officers from the State CID Panti did not give direct evidence as they are not direct eyewitnesses to the offence.
“No evidence was shown by the prosecution that it was the defendants that committed the offence and there was no direct link proving that the defendants killed the deceased.
“The prosecution has not been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants killed the deceased.
“The defendants: John Idoko, Mary Adakole and Obinna Eze are hereby found not guilty of a one-count charge of manslaughter,” Justice Adebiyi said.
Following the judgment, Mr Boniface Ohemu, the defence counsel to the couple and Ms Y. A Ajayi, the defence counsel to Eze, in appreciation, thanked the court for the judgment.
The prosecution team led by Mr Akin George, said that the couple were both 27 and Eze, 22 when the offence was allegedly committed at 11.55pm on February 21, 2014 at Ikota Housing Estate, Ajah, Lagos.
“Idoko and Adakole who share a young child, were going for a vigil at their church called Glory Ministries. Adakole was waiting outside for Idoko while he dressed up for the vigil.
“He was alerted by her scream and ran out of their home.
“Adakole told him that the deceased had brought out his manhood and flashed the light of a torch on it, beckoning her to come and have sexual intercourse with him.
“Idoko called out for Eze his neighbour and the duo pursued the deceased, a scuffle ensued and the deceased became unconscious. The defendants, however, claimed that the deceased lost consciousness after hitting a table.
“When Adakole saw Smart up close, she realised that the deceased was her brother-in-law (elder sister’s husband), the deceased was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead,” George said.
The offence contravenes Section 227 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2011 which prescribes a life sentence for anyone convicted of the offence of manslaughter.
The defendants were arraigned at the Ikeja High Court on March 9, 2016 and had pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter.
The prosecution called four witnesses while the three defendants testified in their defence.
Dr Sunday Shoyemi, a consultant pathologist from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in his evidence told the court that Smart corpse had shown signs of asphyxia.
“There was bruising on the right side of the neck, there was a fracture of the thyroid cartilage, the air pipe was reddened and filled with hemorrhage,” he said.