C

Section 270(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) states that there shall be a High Court for each State of the Federation. The Constitution only created one High Court for each State of the Federation. While the High Courts of different States are divided into judicial divisions, that is only for easy dispatch of business and administrative convenience. The jurisdiction of the High Court of a State, including Jigawa State remains one and unbroken.

Mens rea is a necessary ingredient of an offence. Mens   rea is the criminal intent or guilty mind of the accused. Mens rea entails that there must be a meeting of the mind and the act of the offender for the offence to be complete. Given that there is no way humanly possible to ascertain with mathematical accuracy the devices of a man’s heart, the intentions can be discerned from the actions of the offender and other circumstantial evidence. In this case, the actions of the appellant showed his guilty intention. [Njoku v. State (2013) 2 NWLR (Pt.1339) 548 referred to.] (Pp. 549-550, paras. D-D).

Corroboration means evidence tendering to confirm, support and strengthen other evidence sought to be corroborated. Corroboration need not consist of direct evidence that the accused person committed the offence or need not amount to a confirmation of the whole account given by the witness, provided that it corroborates the evidence in some respects material to the charge. It does not have to be direct evidence of the commission of the crime by the accused.

USMAN V. STATE (2025) 12 NWLR (PT. 2000) 261 ON PROOF OF CONSPIRACY It is a near impossible task for the prosecution to prove conspiracy with hard evidence and mathematical…

SAMAILA V. STATE [2024] 2 NWLR (PT. 1923) 465

ON TREATMENT OF EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS WHICH CONTRADICTS HIS EXTRA-JUDICIAL STATEMENT

Where a witness’ statement to the Police contradicts his evidence in court, the court should regard him as an unreliable witness and discountenance his testimony in court. [Berende v. F.R.N. (2023) 4 NWLR (Pt.1875) 423 referred to.] (Pp. 486-487, paras. H-A).

SAMAILA V. STATE [2024] 2 NWLR (PT. 1923) 465

The primary purpose of a charge is to give an accused person good, sufficient and clear notice of the case against him. [Olatun bosun v. State (2013)17 NWLR (Pt. 1382) 167; Idi v. State (2019) 15NWLR (Pt.1696) 448 referred to.] (P. 323, para. F).