BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS:
Ademola, C.F.J.;
De Lestang, C.J. Lagos;
Brett F.J.
Bairamian, F.J.J.
Between
T.U. AKWULE & 10 ORS ………………………………………………………………………. APPELLANTS
And
THE QUEEN …………………………………………………………………………………. RESPONDENT
…………………….A…………………….
ADEMOLA, C.J.F. (delivering the judgment of the court):-The 1st appellant was convicted in the High Court, Northern Region, held at Kano, of an offence laid under sections 315 of the Penal Code of the Northern Region relating to Criminal Breach of Trust in his capacity as a Banker; the sum involved being £100,089-8s-5d. He was also convicted of an offence under section 371 of the Penal Code of falsifying a clearing account relating to other Banks in what is known as the Impersonal ledger and also with forgery of a current account ledger. The other ten appellants were convicted each on a count of aiding and abetting the 1st appellant in the commission of the offence of criminal breach of trust.
The 1st appellant, who admitted the facts presented at the trial (except those relating to forgery), was at the time material to the charge the Manager of the branch of the Bank of West Africa at Fagge in Kano. He had authority to grant overdrafts to customers of the Bank up to a sum of £200 which must be reported at once. Contrary to the authority given to him, the 1st appellant granted overdrafts to the other appellants, from time to time, far above the sum of £200 and without making a report, although it was clear that some of the appellants had been bad debtors of the Bank before the 1st appellant took over, and it was to his knowledge that their credit facilities had been withdrawn; the other appellants became customers of the Bank since the 1st appellant became the Manager. Although credit facilities for heavy amounts were given to these men without making due reports, entries of these amounts were not made in the Bank’s books. Later false returns of the clearing accounts were rendered by the 1st appellant in order to reconcile his accounts with other banks. Forgery of a page in the current accounts ledger was also proved against the 1st appellant although he denied the facts. The other appellants, Nos. 2-11, aided and abetted the 1st appellant to commit criminal breach of trust knowing full well that they were without funds in the Bank and that their accounts were not being debited with the amounts they had been drawing out; in some cases paying cheques into their accounts in the Bank, to facilitate the rendering of the returns by the 1st appellant, which cheques to their own knowledge were worthless.
