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The penalty for killing another human being

by | Apr 1, 2016 | Uncategorized


Before that day, I had witnessed a number of
sentencing in court but that was my first life sentence. Astonishingly, the convict
remained calm and stood there, clenching his palms in a fist, like he was in a
trance or was dazed. And what was his crime? He had committed murder.
According to the facts of his case, he had lured a
business partner and friend into a secluded bush area and killed him with a machete
just so that he could make away with some money they had both made on a
business sale. The prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and
the court made its pronouncement. Now, he was going to spend the rest of his
life in prison. 
Murder is a crime in all jurisdictions because of
the immorality in taking a life.  Countries
around the world have made laws criminalizing the act including Nigeria as seen
in the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, LFN 2004. It provides in Section 306
that; 
306.    It is unlawful to
kill any person unless such killing is authorised or justified or excused by
law.
Yes, the above law makes
the commission of murder a crime, the provisions of the Criminal Code further
provides for the penalty for committing murder in Section 320 where it states; 
320.  Any person who-
  
(1)    Attempts unlawfully to kill
another; or
 
(2)   with intent unlawfully to kill
another does any act, or omits to do any act which it is his duty to do, such
act or omission being of such a nature as to be likely to endanger human life;
  is
guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for life.
There are hundreds of
cases of murder before the Courts and the Police Force. In December, 2012, the police
force revealed that no fewer than 270 people were murdered and 32 policemen
killed in gun battles with armed robbers in Lagos, the nation’s commercial capital. Murder
is a serious crime and I hope you reading this article take note to stay away
from it. 
Adedunmade
Onibokun
@Adedunmade
TIME TO SERVE A QUIT NOTICE

TIME TO SERVE A QUIT NOTICE

by | Nov 13, 2015 | Uncategorized


Credits – housingrights.co.uk
 A
landlord has an unfettered legal right to terminate a tenancy upon giving
adequate notice. This is because the property is his and he can at any time
retrieve it subject to the conditions of the tenancy agreement. Once he abides
by the provisions of the tenancy agreement, the tenant has no choice than to
vacate possession. If the tenant refuses to quit, a court of law can, on an
action by the landlord, force him out of the premises. 
Many
Landlords and Tenants have been mixed up in endless court battles and rigorous
negotiations and/or arguments over notices to quit. The arguments of many
tenants have been that the notices are invalid or not properly served while
Landlords believe otherwise. This is a quick attempt to clear the air on the
issue. 

In
order to recover possession of his premises, a landlord must determine the
tenancy, by service on the tenant of the appropriate notice to quit depending
on the type of tenancy. 
Some
tenancy agreements provide for the length of notices and must be strictly
adhered to when it does, however Section
14 of the Lagos State Rent Control
and Recovery of Residential Premises law states that –
    1. Where there is no express
stipulation as to the notice to be given by either party to determine the
tenancy, the following periods of time shall be given –
a)   
In the case of a tenancy
at will or a weekly tenancy, a week’s notice.
b)   
In the case of a monthly
tenancy, a month’s notice;
c)    
In the case of a yearly
tenancy, half a year’s notice. 
On
the determination of the tenancy, the tenant should be served with the
statutory 7 days’ notice of the landlord’s intention to recover possession of
the premises. Thereafter, the action can be filed in court. It should be noted
that service of valid quit notices is a precondition for the recovery of
possession by the Landlord. 
It
is settledthat a notice to quit in order to be effective ought to determine the
tenancy at the end of the current term of the tenancy as illustrated in the
case of African Petroleum Ltd. V.
Owodunni (1991) 8 NWLR (Pt 210) 391. For instance, a notice of six months
is necessary to determine a yearly tenancy and such notice must terminate the
tenancy at the end of the current term of the tenancy. Thus any notice given to
end at the middle of the term of the tenancy will be invalid. This was
illustrated in Akpokiniovo V. Air
Liquide Nigeria Plc (2012) LPELR – 9582(CA). 
Where
a tenant for a fixed term refuses at the expiration of his tenancy to vacate
possession and wrongfully, that is, without the consent
of the landlord, continues in possession, he would be a tenant at sufferance.
This arises where a tenant at sufferance, holds over without the landlord’s
assent or dissent. What is important to note is that, if a notice to quit does
not follow the stipulated time prescribed by law, it is not valid.
AdedunmadeOnibokun,
Esq.
@adedunmade
RAPE IN LAGOS STATE IS LIFE IMPRISONMENT

RAPE IN LAGOS STATE IS LIFE IMPRISONMENT

by | Jun 30, 2014 | Uncategorized

Credits: Google


As a
lawyer and blogger, I come across many reports bothering on sexual crimes. I bet
you have as well. I particularly remember the shocking news out of India when
four men raped and killed a lady who commuted in the same vehicle with them.
Don’t push your nose up just yet at the Indians; we both know such similar stories
come out of your city or communities as well. Sexual crimes are a universal problem
which the courts and law enforcement agencies come across almost daily, I
wonder why we have so many perverts and sexual predators people committing
such crimes in today’s society.

In Lagos
State,Nigeria, the Criminal Code Law (2011) in Section 258 (1) provides that “any man who has unlawful sexual intercourse
with a woman or girl, without her consent, is guilty of the offence of rape and
liable to imprisonment for life”. A life time in prison is a long time to rot
cool off in jail because you can’t zip up   control
your sexual urges. Plus, it’s important to identify that fine line between
seduction and attempted rape, the law further states in Subsection (2) that “a woman or girl does not consent to sexual
intercourse if she submits to the act by reason of force, impersonation, threat
or intimidation of any kind, fear of harm or false or fraudulent representation
as to the nature of the act”. I wonder if religious leaders who cajole
their followers to have sexual intercourse come under this head, what do you
think?
Credits: Vanguardngr.com

Sexual
intercourse between a man and a woman who are married is not unlawful and sexual
intercourse is complete on the slightest penetration of the vagina or any other
part for that matter as seen in Section 259 which says “any person who penetrates sexually the anus, vagina, mouth or any other
opening in the body of another person with a part of his body or anything else,
without the consent of the person is guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment
for life”. Wow, like I earlier stated, life in jail is a long time for a
crime that takes less than a few minutes to execute, in my opinion, it’s
definitely not worth it, even an attempt to sexually assault or rape is a
felony liable to imprisonment for fourteen (14) years, I bet you don’t want
that either.
Sexual Harassment
is a big thing that could get you a 3 year jail term in Lagos State, you cannot
even touch another person sexually without their consent or you could be liable
to imprisonment for three (3) years, that means squeezing the yansh grabbing
a co-worker or passerby in a sexual manner without their consent is not a good
idea either (S. 261(1)).
“Sexual
harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favours, and other
visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which when submitted to
or rejected–
(a) implicitly
or explicitly affects a person’s employment or educational opportunity or
unreasonably interferes with the person’s work or educational performance;
(b) implicitly
or explicitly suggests that submission to or rejection of the conduct will be a
factor in academic or employment decisions; or
(c) creates
an intimidating, hostile or offensive learning or working environment”.
A person
consents if he agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make and
communicate that choice. In determining whether a person charged had reasonable
grounds for believing that another person consented, the court shall have
regard to all the circumstances, including any steps taken by the defendant to
ascertain whether the woman or girl consented. So when a girl says no, she
means no. You may ask how can one tell if she’s saying no but means yes, well, except
she is saying no and putting your penis into her vagina if she implies
yes by her other actions or speech, that will be a question for the court to
decide.  
Credits: connectnigeria.com

Bestiality
is another ball game, meaning to fuck an animal to have sexual relations
with an animal is a no-no, any person who has sexual intercourse with an animal
is guilty of a
felony,
and is liable to imprisonment for three (3) years (S.265).
Adedunmade
Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade
2014 LAW REGULATING PUBLIC SMOKING IN LAGOS STATE

2014 LAW REGULATING PUBLIC SMOKING IN LAGOS STATE

by | Jun 3, 2014 | Uncategorized


Several weeks ago, the Lagos
State govt passed a law banning smoking in public places. While some Lagosians
received the news with mixed feelings, others commended and supported the govt
of Raji Fashola SAN for its commitment to making Lagos state a safer community for
everyone. It is worthy of note that a similar bill is being considered before
the National Assembly in the guise of the National Tobacco Bill which
is being sponsored by Hon. Dayo Bush-Alebiosu representing the good people of
Kosofe Local Govt in the House of Representatives.

Many Lagosians are however still
in the dark about the actual provisions of the law. Legalnaija in its bid to
inform Nigerians about their civil rights,duties and obligations in law
dedicates this blog post to informing about these lagos state law which is the
first of its kind in the country.

The law which is culled as a “Law
to provide for the regulation of smoking in public places in Lagos State and
for connected purposes” and enforced by the Lagos State Environmental Agency
(LASEPA) provides thus:

The law in section 1 defines
smoking in Section 1 as:

  • The
    carrying or holding of any lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette of any kind, or any
    other lighted smoking equipment;
  •  The
    lighting, inhaling or exhaling of smoke from a pipe, cigar or cigarette of any
    kind; or 
  •  Being
    in possession of any other list of substance in a form in which it could be
    smoked.
The law further provides that no
person shall smoke in all public places including but not limited : All places designated as “No smoking areas” by
the act of the National Assembly in Nigeria; Libraries, Archives, Museums and Galleries; Public toilets; 
Hospitals and other health care premises; 
Creches, Nurseries, Day care centres and other
premises used for the day care of infants, children and adults; Kindergartens, Nursery, primary and Secondary
Schools; Public telephone kiosk or call centers; Public transportation vehicles within Lagos state; Private vehicles which have more than one person
inside;
School buses; Restaurants; Cinemas, Concert Halls, Theaters, Amusement
Arcades, Studios and other premises used for entertainment of the members of
public; Halls and any other premises used for the
assembly of members of the public for social, religious or recreational
purposes;  Conference centers and exhibition halls; 
Shopping centers; Retail shops; Factories and other premises that are non –
domestic premises in which one or more persons work; Premises which are being used wholly or
principally as a place of work; Lifts; All common parts of flats or communal spaces; Any place that is enclosed or substantially
enclosed and opened to the public. 

The law however allows owners of
Tertiary institutions; Bars and Night clubs and Hotels to designate no more
than 10% of their premises as smoking areas. It also mandates that owners and
managers of public places must put up “No smoking signs” in their premises;
install smoke detectors in no smoking areas and ensure that anyone smoking
outside a no smoking area must do so at least 10 feet away from the entrance of
the premises. any one that violates this provision of the law is liable to a
fine of N100,000 or 6 months in prison or both. Where this law is breached by
an organisation, if it is committed by an officer of the organisation shall be
liable to a fine of N250,000.

Smoking areas must have also
proper ventilation and where necessary ventilation equipments. Authorised
officers have the authourity to enter such places in other to inspect that the
law is complied with and it is a crime to prevent such officers from carrying
out their duties.Persons who violate this law are
liable upon conviction to a fine not less than N10,000 and not more than
N15,000 or imprisonment for a period not less than one month and not more than
3 months or both. The court may also stipulate any non – custodial punishment
that it deems fit. Repeat offenders are liable to a fine of N50,000 or
imprisonment for a term of 6 months or both. Smoking in the presence of a
child under the age of 18 in a way that will be injurious to the child is an
offence and offenders on conviction will be liable to a fine of N15,000 or
imprisonment for a term of one month or both. 

Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.
dunmadeo@yahoo.com