Defence Of Insanity

Insanity is any mental disorder severe enough, that it
can be said to mean, the state of being mentally ill.
The sanity defence comes in, where an individual is unable to detect the wrongfulness or rightness of his action. This defence is an affirmative defence alleging that a mental disorder caused the accused to commit the crime. A successful insanity defence results not in acquittal but instead in a special verdict (“not guilty by reason of insanity”). This defence reflects the society’s belief that the law should not punish defendants who are mentally incapable of controlling their conduct. That is to say that if a person was at the time of his unlawful act, mentally so disordered, that it will be unreasonable to impute the guilt on him, he ought not to be held liable for conviction and punishment.
The first famous test for insanity defence has its origin from the case of Daniel M’ Naghten 1843. In that case Daniel M’ Naghten tried to assassinate the Prime Minister of Britain and was found not guilty because he was insane at the time. The presiding judge, Lord Tindal stated that the question to be asked is whether the prisoner had or had not the use of his understanding, so as to know that he was doing a wrong and wicked act. The accused was acquitted on the basis of not guilty by reason of insanity.
To succeed on the  defence of insanity in Nigeria, three requisite capacities envisaged by 5.28 of the criminal code must be considered.
1.    The capacity to understand what he is doing
2.    Capacity to control his actions
3.    Capacity to know that he should not do the act or make the omission.
Also in Foluso Oladele v. State (1993) I. SCNJ 60. It was stated that to establish the defence of insanity the following relevant facts must be considered:
i.    Evidence as to the past history of the accused person
ii.    Evidence as to the conduct of the accused immediately preceding the commission or omission of the offence.
iii.    Evidence of prison officials who have custody of the accused person before and during his trial.
iv.    Evidence of medical officials who examined the accused
v.    Evidence of relatives about the general behaviour of the accused person and the reputation he enjoys for sanity or insanity in the neighbourhood.
vi.    Evidence showing that insanity runs in the history of the family of the accused and such other facts which will help the trial court come to conclusion that the burden of proof placed by law on the defence has been discharged.
In 1962 when the Federal Government established the University of Lagos (Unilag), Eni Njoku, a Professor of Botany from University of Ibadan was made its first Vice Chancellor. After the expiration of Njoku’s three year term, the government announced his removal and replaced him with a historian Prof. Saburi Biobaku. As a result the university community was engulfed in crisis following a dispute between the university senate and the council over the appointment of the new V.C, their argument was that Njoku was eligible for re-appointment.
The students of Unilag at that time believed, the government’s decision was laden with ethnic favouritism, they resisted the idea and protested against the action. They threatened fire and brimstone and asked the then Minister of Education, Chief Richard Akinjide to stop Biobaku from moving near the university. But government was final and irreversible. Having foreclosed the issue, the Abubakar Tafawa Belewa government notified the new VC that he had no cause to fear, and the security agencies too assured him of adequate protection on the campus.
After the new VC assumed office, he needed to acquaint himself with the students as other members of the academic community. So arraignment was made for him to address the students. As Biobaku mounted the podium of the university auditorium to give his inaugural speech, a radical student activist, identified as Adams, surged forward from the crowd and stabbed the VC on the back, ostensibly in protest against Njoku’s removal. Law Report Vol. 13, Adams was eventually charged before a Lagos High Court by the then Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the federation. The student was arraigned for unlawfully stabbing the V.C.
Ewere resides in Port Harcourt.

Nkechi Bright Ewere